A Certain '8th' Level 5
by Kratos1989
Summary: There has always been 7 Level 5s in Academy City. But on a certain day that would lead to an event like none other, a certain unfortunate person will find out personally if another Level 5 has risen to take his place among the higher level espers. My own Original Character in Alternate Universe. Set after NT6, before NT7
1. Prologue

Level 5, the level associated with the strongest of espers, those who have the power to take on armies on their own without breaking a sweat.

For as long as anyone can remember, that title has pretty much stuck with 7 such individuals:

Accelerator of Vector Change,

Kakine Teitoku of Dark Matter,

Misaka Mikoto aka "Tokiwadai's Ace" and the "Rail-gun"

Shizuri Mugino aka "Meltdowner",

Misaki Shokuhou aka "Mental Out" and "Queen of Tokiwadai",

The mysterious Number 6,

And Soginta Gunha aka "The Attack Crash"

These seven individuals have been at the top for so long, others felt there was absolutely no one to match them, if not take their place alongside them.

_Until now._

Rumors started spreading about a person who supposedly displayed powers that were considered scientifically impossible to produce. As with many of the urban legends and myths that are in Academy City, it was difficult to tell whether such a thing is truth, like the urban legend of the man who has the ability to cancel out other powers, or the hero who would come to any kids' rescue if they called out his name.

Nevertheless, rumors began talking about such an individual and stuff supposedly done by him.

Rumors of him roaming the streets taking on Skill-outs who have injured the innocents.

Rumors of him taking out gangs of Level 3 and 4 who have abused their powers.

Rumors of him being a Level 5 who_ fights with swords as his weapons_.

On a certain particular day that would lead to a rather extraordinary event, a certain unfortunate person will discover whether such an individual actually exists.

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

So this is my first fan fic about To Aru Majutsu no Index, I figured with everyone's ideas about the novel, I should give it a shot.

I will say this in advance, future chapters (if any) will probably be a little late, since I'm looking forward to NT7 coming up and I have ideas that come from other light novels and games that would need sorting out before I can add them in.

Hope you enjoy my short bit, and hopefully I can get some chapters out for this.


	2. Chapter 1: The Meeting

Kamijou Touma sighed as he laid his aching head on the table in front of him. It was absolute misfortune for him that he had to miss the supermarket limited discount hour yesterday, thus resulting in a very hungry and very angry Index chomping his head the moment he woke up this morning. Things did not get any better after he managed to free himself from Index; he ended up meeting Misaka Mikoto and her junior, Shirai Kuruko, who showed no hesitation in trying to impale some iron needles into his body. Then, just as Touma was about to get away from them as Misaka was administering some shocks to her seriously depraved junior, Misaka Imouto came along and started clinging to him, resulting in him spending the hour running away and dodging electric attacks by Misaka, losing half of his homework along the way, before getting to his classroom with barely a minute to spare, only to end up getting a lecture from the "Iron Wall" for his tardiness.

Honestly, he was a very unfortunate person.

"Nya~", someone said, interrupting his brief moment of rest. "Kami-yan, why so down?" His blond friend, Tsuchimikado Motoharu asked behind him with a big smile. With his shades, his golden jewellery and that Hawaiian shirt sticking out, he looked more of a delinquent that should be outside smoking than to be stuck in the classroom.

"Ah, no doubt he's thinking about the best way of managing his harem" His blue haired friend and fellow member of the "Idiot Trio", Aogami Pierce said at his right side while waving his arms in the air. With his shocking blue hair and ear piercings, not to mention his questionable behaviour among girls, this is the last guy anyone would think of being the class rep.

Touma just turned his head without lifting it, looking at Aogami with a deadpan look. "I keep telling you I don't have a bloody harem. What part of getting bitten in the head, getting threatened with impalement and chased around by Biri Biri, sounds like a good time to you?"

"Ah! Touma, you jerk! You go around flaunting your girls to everyone, and you said you don't have a harem!" Aogami shouted with somewhat dangerous looking eyes. "Even later you get to enjoy a private lesson with Komoe Sensei! Damn It!"

"Again, how the hell did you get that conclusion I want to get punished for losing my homework? You have got to get that head of yours examined." Touma said in the same deadpan tone while sighing. Honestly, this guy was an absolute lolicon with major issues. Privately, he thought whether a certain frog faced doctor could do something about it.

On second thought, maybe he can't and perhaps shouldn't. For one thing, this guy seems to be somewhat perverted all the way to the genetic level. For all Touma knew, the doctor may accidentally unleash some hidden potential that would wreak havoc all over Academy City. That, and the fact that some of the "Sisters" are still being treated at the hospital the doctor is stationed. Touma suppressed a shudder at the thought of Aogami seeing them there; the guy would probably have a field day.

"Honestly, can you get any lazier?" The "Iron Wall" Fukiyose Seiri came over with a major frown on her head. Reaching into her bag nearby, she took out a bottle of milk and slammed it onto the desk. "Here, you need more calcium in your body" She said before taking another one out of the bag and popping the cap, then take one long swig of it.

"By the way, have any of you guys thought about the recent rumors lately?" Tsuchimikado asked while leaning back in his chair. "Rumor on what?" Touma asked while grabbing the bottle in front of him and sitting up straight.

"You never heard? It's about the supposed new Level 5 that appeared recently." His blond friend replied back with a raised eyebrow.

_Oh._ Touma and the other two understood now what he was saying.

* * *

_It happened after the Fräulein incident, while the city was getting repaired from all the battles. While the engineers were repairing the system scanners used to measure Esper levels, they noted some of them displayed an unknown reading, which upon further examination found out that the readings were unusually high for even Level 5s. At first they thought it belonged to one of the other Level 5s, but as they double checked and triple checked, they discovered the type of power that was registered by the machines did not belong to any of the known abilities of Level 5s; it was a totally different ability all together._

_Although they tried to keep it under wraps, someone leaked out that information and the press had a field day. Within a few hours, people started wondering who it was, a question which was not aided by the fact that some espers tried to take credit for that title, claiming they were the ones who were the "new" Level 5. But it was pretty obvious they were not the ones the moment they displayed their abilities. For one thing, most were too common, others were too weak, and none came close to the type of "uniqueness" and power that was registered._

_It was around that time of uncertainty that rumours started spreading about someone going around attacking gangs in Academy City. No one knew how they began, but all the rumors pretty much said the same thing: a guy was being a vigilante, going around taking out Skill-Outs and gangs of Level 3 and 4. The things that made him famous were the fact the people he took out were known to have committed many crimes such as burglary, stealing and assault, while the esper gangs were shown to have abused their powers to force people to do their dirty work for them, among other things. Anti-Skill and Judgment had been trying to arrest these gangs for some time but failed since they were running low on human resources from the recent events._

_Perhaps the most famous deed was the recent apprehension of a Level 4 esper called Taku Sendo. By all appearances, he seemed a likable fellow who was popular with the girls and decent grades at a decent high school. However, it turned out that he was actually a fiend who used his telepathic abilities to cheat in the system, find out secrets and used them to blackmail his fellow colleges to do his work and, perhaps the most sickening thing about him, forced girls to do "certain" things for him._

_This was brought to light when Judgment received an anonymous call to go to a back alley area to pick up a criminal. They arrived and found Taku somewhat crucified to an iron cross, with a small bag containing call history, electronic records and other stuff that helped to peel off the facade he made in public. When they examined the cross, they found out that there were some traces of the same ability that was registered in the machines._

_Apart from that, many have noted that of the few who were conscious from the attacks, they looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown; one in particular kept saying while being sent to the nearby detention center, "Get him away from me! That guy ain't human, I'm telling you! I will tell you everything you need; just keep me away from that monster! Swords, knives, spears! I don't want those blades near me! GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!"_

_So the rumors kept going, all saying that this was the "Shadow" Level 5 who went around taking out bad people with the ability to create weapons of different sorts, dispensing his own justice._

* * *

"He's seems to be a good guy I suppose, considering he's dealing with all these people while Anti Skill and Judgement are having trouble with the other stuff out there" Touma said after reviewing what they knew.

"But I'm not too sure about his approach, him going around attacking with his supposed powers" Fukiyose remarked with a frown. "Would that not make him like them, just using his powers to pick on the weak? I mean, he's not even telling his name or confirming the rumors."

"Well we will probably know sooner or later" Tsuchimikado said while pushing up his shades. "It seems that the higher ups are going to be making an announcement of sorts regarding the rumors so as to appease the masses about it."

"Though I wondered, do they even know the identity of that fellow, or will he come out to announce himself?" Touma thought out loud. "I mean at this time, with all that has happened for the past few months, should they even make this announcement? It might actually bring more confusion" Considering he was at the center of those incidents that happened, he may not have been the best person to say that, but that was for him to know.

"Oh well, if I was the Level 5, I would have girls coming after me from everywhere!" Aogami said with his fists clenched and eyes shining. Tsuchimikado shrugged with a tired smile while Fukiyose and Touma just sighed with extreme exasperation and tiredness. There was no helping the resident pervert of the group.

"Oh right everyone! Please get back to your seats" Komoe Sensei said as she walked right into the classroom.

"Oh yes, Kamijou-chan, please remember to stay back after the lessons, we need to redo some of the lessons that you missed. Please do so, or I will have to make you do a Columbus Egg!" Kome Sensei smiled as she said that.

"Such misfortune" Touma sighed as she started the lesson.

* * *

Touma walked along the road with his legs slightly dragging the ground. Honestly, having to retake lessons was such a hassle, since he would be held back late into the evening and he would be hard pressed to get some decent food at reasonable prices, which would no doubt be insufficient to fill the black hole called Index and his latest occupant, Fräulein, who at least has a more reasonable appetite capacity.

Truly, he was a very unfortunate person.

His thoughts got broken by some voices as he passed a café. The source came from a nearby table being occupied by 2 middle school students. He wasn't really interested in what they were talking, but the words that came after perked his ears up.

"Is it true that _"that man"_ has taken down another group of Skill Outs?" The female with the short black hair asked.

"That's right" her male companion with the dyed red hair replied. "It seems that the gang of District 20 were taken down the same way as the others. Just as well, they have been wrecking the facilities for quite a while now. And Judgment aren't even doing much to stop them."

"I see, but hasn't anyone seen how he looks like or something?"

"Nope, and apparently everyone has been trying to find him. Good luck for him then, I don't know about you, but he better stay low a little so that he can avoid some publicity. That way he can at least be safe from those guys after him."

Touma left them as they continued to gossip about the supposed Level 5, digesting what he had just heard.

Touma pondered about the latest information as he continued walking to his apartment. The guy in question was rather elusive, considering that Anti-Skill and Judgement, and the Skill-outs and Esper Gangs, have been trying to find him with no success. Furthermore, that ability he supposedly has, to create weapons and stuff so easily. Sure, there were several espers who have the ability to form objects and stuff, but from what he gathered, the guy was able to create actual melee weapons like swords and spears. He never heard of an esper who could do such a transformation, even if it justified the supposed level he was at. But the manner in which it was done...

_Could it be he's a magician?_

Touma shook his head. That would be impossible. For one thing, the scanners would not detect the magical energy as far as he could tell, and from what he did know, magicians would generally not stick around in Academy City to just take down gangs and thugs. Just what was his goal?

Again, his thoughts were interrupted again, this time by a group of guys who were surrounding a girl who was looking downright frightened at all of them. Touma sighed at this common scene. Seriously, how many times has he seen this type of people always hitting on girls and not getting a clue that the girls do not want to be with them?

_**Time for the Kamijou Special Tactics number 3: The Lost Sibling approach.**_

Touma pushed his way through the small group, giving small apologies as they glared at him, before getting in front of the girl and reaching out for her hand, saying "Ah, there you are! I have been looking for you. Thanks guys for finding my sister, we will be on our way now."

Two different hands caught the two hands of the girl, and tried to pull her in two different directions, prompting her to squeak in surprise, stammering, "Ummm- who are you two?"

_Huh?_ Kamijou Touma turned around at that question, to see a guy with pale blond hair holding on to the other hand of the girl. One of the delinquents closest to them leaned forward to view them, "Hey! Both of you can't be her siblings! Besides neither of you two look at all like her."

_Who the hell took my excuse?!_ Both of them looked at each other with utter disbelief when the delinquent came rushing with clenched fists. Both of them got out of the way before slamming their respective fists into the guy's face, sending him flying backwards to the nearby trash can. They then turned around to see the girl running off in the other direction, clearly not wanting to be in their current situation any longer.

With the delinquents staring at them, not knowing what to do, the two of them looked at each other and grinned, raising their hands and said: "Right then, leaving this to you!" before running off.

"Hey get back here!" The delinquents shouted after them as they started chasing them. Touma looked over his shoulder and found the blond guy running alongside him. "The hell man, you used my excuse!"

"I should be saying that, dang it!" The guy snapped back as he jumped over such bags of rubbish. "I can't believe you tried to make me the scapegoat!"

"Kyaa!" The two stopped arguing as they looked in front to see the same girl from earlier fallen on the ground. The blond guy quickly sped up and grabbed her, slowing slightly to cradle her in his arms, bridal style.

"This way!" Touma pointed to a nearby alley at the side as he ran towards it, the blond companion following him with the girl. After running down the alley for a while they quickly hid at the sides and let the group rushed past them. After a few minutes they both sighed in relief and got out of their hiding place.

"Where to, mate?" "Well, let's get to the junction at that side" Touma pointed to the side, "there should be a way to the roadside" "Ok"

Touma led them to the junction point of the alley slowly, since the girl the guy was carrying seemed rather wound up from all the excitement. Now it was just a matter of getting the right path without getting spotted and they would have no problems, right?

"There they are!" Touma and the guy turned around to find the gang fast approaching from behind. Crap, it looked like the gang found them while deciding on the fastest route out. Things **cannot** **get any worse**, **_right?_**

"Hey! That's the guy who stopped us from picking up those girls last week!" Touma turned to his left to see another group staring at him angrily.

"Hey! That's the guy who beat up our boss and stopped us from robbing the store!" Touma turned again to his right, only to find another group staring this time at the blond guy, who has gone considerably pale at the revelation that they were really in trouble.

"You have _GOT_ to be kidding me, right?!" The blond guy shouted with a panicked look.

"My luck cannot be **_THIS BAD_**?!" Touma grabbed his head and hugged it in despair.

**_"THIS IS SUCH A DRAG/MISFORTUNE!"_**

"STOP COPYING ME!" Both of them shouted at each other.

_**"GET THEM!" **_

_**"FFFF#$#%&*KK!"**_

* * *

Both of them panted heavily as they sat on the bench at the park, after having put the girl down carefully first. It took them roughly 30 minutes of intense running before they got away from the 3 groups after they passed by a group of Anti Skills who went to take them down quickly. Not wanting to be seen, they continued to run all the way to the park before they could catch a breather. The sun was pretty much setting down in the horizon.

"Damn, that was seriously intense" The blond guy let out in a raspy voice as he leaned back on the bench to calm down.

"Yeah, no kidding" Touma took a few deep breaths before looking at the guy. Now that they had stopped, Touma got a better look at the guy who helped him and got him into this mess. The guy looked a couple of years older than him, and pretty well built. He was dressed with simple black jeans and a white polo T-shirt that was soaked with sweat, with a simple jacket on top of that. He had a pretty decent looking face, which did not seem to be marred by the look of exhaustion on him; rather with the odd setting they are in, it only made him look like a model posing on the bench for some commercial.

"Well then, I suppose we better get the girl back home safely huh?" The guy asked while nodding his head towards the girl, who finally looked relaxed from all the excitement. "Yeah, guess we should" Touma replied before getting up.

"Hello, can you stand up?" Touma asked the girl, who nodded and started moving. But the moment she set her right foot down, she gave a small gasp of pain and nearly fell backwards, only for the blond guy to catch from behind and laid her back on the bench before looking at the leg.

"Oh dear, it seems she may have twisted her leg when she fell down earlier" The blond guy remarked as he examined the leg. "Great, such misfortune" Touma sighed as he scratched his head and looked around. He wasn't too sure where was the nearest hospital, and for that matter if they can move her in that state.

"Don't worry, think I can help with that" The guy said before getting up and looked around. He saw a few pieces of wood and metal, and went to pick them up and bring them back to the girl's side, stopping once to grab a long wooden pole about 3 quarters of the girl's height.

"What are you doing exactly?" Touma asked with a tilt of his head, puzzled by what the guy was doing, as he laid them down next to the leg.

"Just watch" The guy said while checking that he had everything. Satisfied that he had what he needed, he brought his two hands together and clapped once, before laying them on the small pile of rubbish. Touma's eyes went wide as the pieces of metal started glowing before they started to lose their form and twist around the girl's leg. The guy quickly got the pieces of wood and braced them around the girl's leg, then watched as the molten metal formed small rings to hold the wood against the girl's leg, thus securely them firmly but not too tightly.

"Right then, how is it?" He asked the girl, who looked amazed at what she just witnessed. Slowly getting up, she gingerly laid her leg down on the ground, hobbled a little before breaking into a smile. "Hey it doesn't hurt as much as it did earlier!" She said while looking at him.

The blond guy nodded as he looked on. "That's good, but just in case", he held out the long wooden pole to her "Better use this to brace yourself as you walk around for now. We'll get to the nearest clinic and have a doctor examine that, ok?"

As the girl hobbled around to get the feeling, the guy turned around to face Touma, who now got a chance to look at his face in the sun. He noted that the guy looked faintly foreign with some Western traits, making him looked a little younger yet at the same time more matured than him. But perhaps the biggest notable feature had to be his eyes, his left eye was sky blue while his right eye was gold. It was like looking at 2 moons with different colours.

"Well then, let's go find ourselves a clinic, huh, Mr ..?"

"Touma, Kamijou Touma" Touma smiled as he held out his right hand towards him. The guy seemed pretty nice to go through this much trouble of helping the girl. Not many people he knew would go this far for a total stranger.

"Kamijou Touma, huh?" They guy said in a soft voice before smiling and holding out his right hand and shook it. "The name's Samuel DanQuein, pleasure to meet you, Touma"

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

Hey guys, this is my latest chapter for this fan fic!

As you guys may have guessed, this is set after NT6, roughly a few weeks after the incident. Since I do not know the plot for NT7 (It's not out for translation yet T.T), I can only write this story with what I do know with the novels so far. Who knows, if I can, maybe I will finish this story and continue it in another volume that more or less matches itself with NT7 once I get the story.

For now please enjoy, and hope I can bring out a new chapter soon. See you!

P.S. For the character I just introduce, I'm going to pull the same trick as the Kamachi and give a hidden meaning to his name. It's not exactly accurate, since it is just a fan fic, but I figured I will give this one a try. Maybe in the future chapters or maybe a new volume when I'm done.


	3. Chapter 2: The Encounter

After Touma and Samuel got the girl to the clinic (with Samuel paying for the girl's bill for the time being), they left the place to try and catch a ride to their respective dormitories. Samuel got a little worried since the girl was going pretty red in the face to begin with, and then went even redder when he went to check her temperature; she looked like she was on the verge of fainting on the spot.

Thankfully, the doctor said it was just the excitement, so a night in the clinic would calm her nerves down. So they decided to leave her there in his care. _Though Touma was not too sure about the smirk the doctor had on his face when he was telling them this, as if he understood what the girl was saying._

By this time, the sun had already set, so now the street lights were on to illuminate the different areas. With the light breeze in the air and the streets relatively empty with the occasional students and couples, it was a nice time to take a stroll.

But for Kamijou Touma, now was not the time for that.

"Such misfortune" he muttered as he walked alongside Samuel. The reason for his behavior was because of the time; all the supermarket discounts were long over, and more importantly, it was past dinner time for Index. Then again any time would be a good time for her to eat, he could not help but wonder if the girl had a spell that supposedly increased her appetite or that the food got transported to some black hole. All he knew was that unless he could get some food soon, he was going to be experience a very intense biting session later.

As Touma sighed, he overheard another loud sigh, and turned to see his blond companion with a somewhat down-casted look. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Samuel looked at him with somewhat tired eyes. "There was a job interview I was supposed to go today, and I completely missed it because of that crap earlier on. I needed this job to pay off my electrical bills." Samuel took a deep breath before heaving another big sigh. "This is the fifth time already. Looks like I will have to go a little tight on my wallet for the next few days. Honestly, this is such a drag"

Touma could not help but feel a little bad for the guy. This was a guy who, though not to the same extent as him, seemed to have it bad as well. Touma thought of a topic to try and distract them from the bad luck they have.

"So, what was the thing those guys said about you stopping them from robbing a store and beating their boss?" Samuel turned to stare at him. '_Uh, was that a bad topic to talk about?'_

Samuel took a few seconds before he let out a small chuckle. "You know, most people won't exactly use that as a way of passing the time, mate." _'Well, figured as much.'_ Touma thought ruefully.

Samuel chuckled a little more before taking to a deep breath to calm himself down. "Ok then, I will tell you what I can then." At this point, they just arrived at the bus stop nearest to the clinic, so they sat down to talk a little.

"It was roughly 2 weeks ago, after I got off from my university to get some stuff for my work. I was passing by Decker's Street when I overheard some guys talking about some robbery. Seemed like the leader tried skipping out on paying his meals and groceries, and the owner caught him and gave him quite a major thrashing and got him into trouble with the law. Because of that, that guy thought of getting payback by robbing his store."

"So I followed those guys to where the rest of their gang was, and saw which store they were going to take down. It was that pastry store at District 3; think you know which one right? I heard them saying they were going to hit the store pretty soon. The problem: there were also little kids visiting the store at the time, and from where I was hiding, the leader did not look like he cared too much about having a few kids hurt."

"So I got them to forget taking down the store by going over, knocked some heads over, beat the crap out of the leader and let the rest chase me till I caught the attention of some Judgement members nearby." Samuel said with a small shrug.

Touma looked at him with a look of amusement. This guy pretty much downplayed what could possibly have been one of his more exciting aspects of his life, like it was something he had to go through many times. "Guess that would get them pretty pissed"

"Yeah well, as you have seen earlier, some were not caught, and they have been chasing my ass for some time now." As this point, Samuel looked down with a slight dread on his face. "Within the few days after the arrest of the leader and some of their members, I have nearly been knocked down by a truck, got stuck in a burning building, nearly got caught by Judgement for supposed jaywalking, almost took a bullet to the head and nearly labelled as a peeping tom while escaping through the girl's locker room." He let out his biggest sigh yet. "Honestly that day was the biggest drag I had since missing the third job interview."

_Ok_, Touma took it back. This guy was not a little unlucky; this guy had about as much luck as he had on an average day. Damn, Touma knew he should not be feeling this way, but he thought there was **finally** someone who understood the type of crap he had experienced all this time.

Truly, these two were very unfortunate people.

"Enough about me. What was it about _you_ stopping that gang from picking up girls?" Samuel asked with a raised eyebrow. Touma was about to reply back when the bus that went to Touma's dormitory arrived at the stop. Touma looked at it for a while before looking back Samuel, who just threw his hands up and said: "Never mind, you can tell me that tale next time then."

"Ok then, it's a deal" Touma replied while offering his right hand. Samuel smiled and shook it, before Touma boarded the bus and they waved each other goodbye.

'Seems like a nice guy" Touma thought as Samuel's figure grew smaller in the increasing distance. 'Well then, hope there are still some stores open'.

* * *

In the end, Touma was able to comb through the nearby stores to grab enough food to at least last the night. He knew it would not be enough to satisfy the beast called Index, but if he carefully rationed the food (meaning that he would only get 1/5 of the share), he might just be able to delay her attack on him long enough for him to retreat to the safety of his bathroom.

His thoughts of careful planning got interrupted by a scream that came from a nearby alley. Touma stopped and checked around him, wondering if he had imagined that. Another scream immediately removed his doubts.

"Great, here we go again" Touma thought bitterly as he ran down that alley, looking for the source of the disturbance. He did not have to go too far; as he was running, a hand shot out from the ground and grabbed his leg, causing him to fall over and dropped his bag of food, which by some act of fate, managed to fall right into the sewer.

Touma was about to lament his luck, when he turned to see who had grabbed him. Any words that came to his mind got stuck in his throat as he saw the person. The person looked like one of the local street thugs that loiter around the area, with lots of thick clothing to emphasize his size. But the state he was in pretty much destroyed that look. He had multiple cuts and lashes all over his body, with blood staining his clothes. Whatever it was that cut him, was able to cut through thick fabric cleanly, and cut the skin. But that was not the thing that made Touma speechless.

_What made him speechless was the seriously long western blade that was sticking out of the guy's back._

As Touma looked at it, the guy stirred a little before lifting his head. With a start, Touma realized that the thug was actually one of those delinquents who had chased him and Samuel earlier. All thoughts got stopped as the guy suddenly pulled himself towards him, and started shouting fearfully: "Help me! Get that monster away from me! That cannot be human I'm telling you!"

Those words stirred something from his memories, but could not recall it properly, his mind still locking on the fact that the guy in front was still alive, despite having a big sword in his back. But it did jolt him of his stupor and made him try to pull the blade out of his back, to no avail. For one thing it was stuck to the delinquent like glue, but at the same time, Touma could tell something was off. This sword was made with someone's ability, and for some unusual reason, Imagine Breaker could not erase it. Rather, it felt _it allowed the sword to exist_.

Before Touma could think of any other ways to remove it, he heard the sound of clashing metal and more screams coming from the other side of the alley. With the guy in a bit of wreck, Touma had no choice but to drag his body with him, not an easy feat considering the guy was practically wailing and trying to get away from the place. When they got there though, Touma got another surprise in front of him, the guy sharing his shock by going quiet.

There were practically bodies littered all over the place, some of which were being held up by more types of blades that were sticking out of the entire area. What surprised him more was the fact that all of them were the people that chased him earlier and, despite the devastation, he could see that with all the blood staining their clothes, none were dead; they were merely unconscious.

The sound of a body impacting the wall caught Touma's attention. As he looked to his left, he could see in the moonlight a body being held up by his arms against the wall with some metal supports, giving a rather eerie image of a sinner crucified in the night, with his blood trailing down his legs and onto the wall. And in front of him stood a figure, with his back turned towards Touma. He could not tell from his angle how he looked like, but Touma could see one thing.

The guy was holding onto 2 blades, one in each hand, which in front of the crucified person gave a rather horrifying image of a criminal who stood before the cross, daring to defy the words given by the Lord.

_Blades?_ Suddenly it struck Touma, he wondered why the situation was so familiar, but he could not take the information into his head fast enough. This was the man of the rumors, the one who gone around attacking Skill Outs and Esper gangs to enact his brand of justice.

_'They said that he was a man who wields blades as his weapons'_ he remembered Tsuchimikado saying that, but seeing it in person took a realism that he figured he could do without.

As much as he wanted to attack that fellow, he had to bring the guy next to him to a hospital and then call the authorities. There was absolutely no chance of him taking him on like this. Touma started moving back slowly, keeping an eye on the figure in front of him, who has yet to notice him. If he could just move back quietly…

**_"SNAP!"_** Touma froze as his foot stepped on a twig that had to be there by some twisted joke from above. Before he could react, the sound of metal reverberated in the air and he found himself surrounded by dozens of blades floating in the air, with the sharp points aimed directly at him.

As he stood still, he could hear the figure walking towards him slowly, his soft footsteps seemingly echoed in the quiet alleyway, all the while having the blades inch closer to him and the guy who was practically whimpering and peeing his pants. Finally as a dagger got dangerously close to Touma's throat, the figure stopped, halting the blades around them as he studied them.

From the corner of the eye, he could not see the person's features well enough in the darkness, but what stood out the most were his eyes. They were unnaturally bright red, which in the moonlight seemed like they were glowing with rage. Not even Accelerator, who has seen the dark side of Academy City, had eyes like this fellow. It was like this fellow made it his sole mission to punish those who hurt others.

Touma swallowed his saliva loudly, feeling his throat contract unnaturally as the man before him kept on looking at him, as if he was weighing his options on whether to let him live or die. Suddenly the guy tilted his head, as if he overheard something. Touma himself heard it a few seconds later, the sounds of rushing feet that was getting closer to them.

The man turned back to face them one last time, before he turned around and walked away, lifting his left hand and snapped his fingers. The blades that surrounded Touma immediately vanished, while the ones sticking to the bodies crumbled into dust, dropping the few that were stuck to the walls. With that done, the man bent his legs and, with the ground breaking under his feet, jumped straight up to the nearby roof and vanished.

As Touma looked at where he went, he realized he had been kneeling on the ground with his whole body shaking. He never experienced a fear this intense since his battles with Fiamma and Othinus. Touma could not help but wonder if he was truly spared from a painful death just inches away.

* * *

It was a windowless room.

There were no doors, stairs, lifts, or corridors. As a part of the building, the room had no functionality. There was no way to enter the building except via a level 4 esper's teleportation ability. It could have been said to be the most impenetrable stronghold.

It was a tower formed from materials known as Calculate Fortress and considered more defensible than an air-raid shelter. Its defences were designed in such a manner that any attacks on it will be automatically deflected at that particular area by having all available power to stop that attack.

This was the Windowless Building of School District 7, and right now a certain person was pondering about a small matter.

The person in question was a rather unusual sight. The silver-haired "human" appeared like a man but somehow feminine, like an adult but somehow childlike, like a saint but somehow criminal. It was like he was an enigma of all the different associations to describe a human, and at the same time, not so. The other thing that made him looked unusual was the fact he was being suspended upside down in a giant tube, filled with some red liquid.

This was Aleister Crowley, the greatest magician known to the world and also the true Director and founder of Academy City. And right now he was having a bit of a situation.

Aleister gave what seemed to be a small frown as multiple screens appeared in the air before him, displaying different charts and information of the various incidents and other outside events that have occurred. Ever since GREMLIN appeared, Academy City has taken a hell of a beating. What with Hawaii, Baggage City and the recent Fraulein Incident, Academy City was getting attacked not just by them, but by other countries that have been encouraged to stand up to what they felt was a complete monopoly over the latest technology. Not to mention Leivinia Birdway of Dawn-Colored Sunlight dared to mess around with his plans by implicating the Imagine Breaker and sending him all over the world to do her work.

Perhaps the one silver lining was the fact Kamijou Toma was able to throw a wrench to GREMLIN's Plans and messed up Birdway's predictions when he went after Fraulein Kreutune. When he interfered using a fake brain as a means of counteracting Fraulein inner functions, she ceased to be of use to them since she was no longer "pure" as GREMLIN wanted, and that he made sure Birdway would not kill her.

This at least gave Aleister some time to reorganize and deal with the situation, but if he doesn't think of a way to fix it soon…

"Sir" an electronic voice interrupted his thoughts. "There is something you might want to know, sir". The frown on his face grew more pronounced. _What could be so important as to interrupt him when he was thinking of contingency plans for the position he was in?_

"I have just gotten some confirmation that though briefly, the Imagine Breaker has made contact with Alpha Omega" the system reported, bringing up a screen to show him a small clip.

It took a few seconds for him to digest that information, after which that frown disappeared and an expression that suggested he was smiling took over. Now _**this**_ was the type of information and interruption he did not mind getting at times like this.

The subject Alpha Omega was named after a project that consisted of a series of smaller schemes that aimed for a higher understanding of an individual's Personal Reality, and expanding the abilities in manners that would be considered impossible. It took concepts of some of Aleister's more extreme magical ideas and constructs, and if successful, could bring about latent potentials that would seem totally unrelated or even the complete opposite of the original ability.

Aleister had to admit, when he started Project Alpha Omega, he did not have much expectations from the experiment; it was on a whim that he even considered trying the idea out alongside the other plans he had when Academy City was still in its infancy stage. He figured that it would probably fail from the very start and he would just use its remains as a foundation for other plans like the Level 6 advancement plan.

In a sense, he was right in assuming such an end. From the moment it started, the project seemed doom from the start, since it was discovered that an Esper could only have one type of ability, and attempts from other projects revealed that attempts to develop a Dual-Skill were disastrous. The idiotic scientists in question even let themselves get caught in their acts of using the Child Errors as their test subjects, thus inhibiting progress.

Just as Aleister was about to scrap the plan, an interesting development came from the smaller series of the Project. It seems that the theory was sound enough to work, however it required an individual to have an ability that could actually handle the strain of the evolution that would come about from the experiments. Typical abilities like pyrokinesis or telekinesis won't cut it; it had to be really unique, closest being a Gemstone or someone of unknown capabilities that were not esper, magical or Gemstone-derived.

_Luckily for them, such an individual came along just a few years ago._

Again, Aleister had to admit the surprise he had after checking on that individual's stats. This individual seemed like he was **born** to handle such an experiment, not like that magician, Ellis, who was killed in the attempt to create a magician/esper hybrid. Furthermore, the ability he had was similar to Gemstones, something no one else could have or replicate. And lastly, on a hunch he went to check on the places that individual had been, and found out that he had met some people that convinced him he was the ideal test subject.

So Aleister decided to use that individual as the main focus of the Project, and was pleased to see that the results have flourished in ways that to no end astounded him. Truthfully, he saw that the individual already had talent in ways not conceived, but he did not want to get too involved less it goes wrong. He also felt this person had to be handled differently from the rest.

So Aleister decided to "slightly" influence that individual's personal life so that he did not notice anything. He did not do the same thing as he normally would for the other Level 5s, giving them the best education or access to the greatest tech. He also decided that he would not get him too involved with the Dark Side of Academy City. Last thing Aleister needed was another twisted Level 5 like Accelerator or Kakine running amok. They were good test subjects, but way too temperamental and in his opinion, both predictable and unstable.

Aleister viewed the clip as he continued to ponder this latest development. _**Yes,**_ he could use this to his advantage; even if it was not yet the time, he could easily integrate him into the work he had planned. Together with the Imagine Breaker, he would most likely gain the upper hand over the magic cabals and GREMLIN.

His smile grew more pronounced at his thoughts. To the casual observer, that smile was like an angel smiling at them from the heavens. But for those who knew Aleister, this was the smile that hinted at the cunning and deviousness that he had inside.

* * *

Touma sneezed loudly. He did not know why, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine, like some major misfortune was about to come upon him.

In a way, the situation he was in right now could be called that.

_**"So Touma, where is my dinner?"**_A certain nun dressed in white asked in a very low but threatening tone as she stared down at the kneeling Kamijou Touma who was practically trembling with the anticipation he was going to experience a very painful attack of relentless biting. Sitting near at a table was a certain little girl who was hugging, of all things, a plush toy in the form of a white rhinoceros beetle.

That girl was a bit of a sight. She had long lavender hair that reached beyond her legs and she was dressed in a something that resembled a transparent 2 piece dress. With an image like that, she was the last person you would think capable of eating human brains.

That girl's name was Fraulein Kreutune, a former captive of the Windowless Building and currently a visitor (albeit an illegal one) to the dormitory. She was sticking her little legs under the table to enjoy the warmth while looking at their exchange. Touma hoped that she did not end up picking any habits from Index from this situation; he honestly cannot handle a second Index around.

In any case, Touma was explaining to Index what had happened, but it would seem that she was either too hungry to listen or she simply ignored it in her own favour. He did not tell her too much about the man with blades nor the fact that Imagine Breaker did not work well, he figured he better not add more oil to the fire as it was.

"So where's my dinner?"

"Erm, Index, you do realize I had to go and save those people who had been cut up pretty badly, and that took a while for the authorities to get there before I could sneak away without them asking too many questions."

"Then why did you not take pick up the dinner?"

"I told you, I dropped them into the sewers while finding out"

_"Then, why did you not buy more afterwards?"_

"You do realize I'm the one using my expenses to have to buy more food, which I might add, is pretty much all taken by you! I hardly able to get any food, my wallet is getting dried out, so why don't you try to lessen your appetite?!" Touma shouted back at her, temporarily losing his patience. _**Big Mistake.**_

"TOUMA!" Index shouted as she bared her fangs at him. "W-Wait a second there, Index! It ain't my fault that the girl got hurt from getting chased by the gang or the fact that I'm late with no food because of helping people and losing it at the sewers!" Touma stammered while backing off towards the front door. If he could just make it in time…

"So going to pick up girls is more important than getting my meals, huh Touma?!" Index shouted as she jumped on him and set her teeth on his head.

"GAHH! Index, what part of it sounds like I'm picking up girls?! And please stop biting me!" Touma shouted while trying to wrestle the girl off his head. He turned to the side to ask Fraulein to help him, only to see her studying the two of them carefully.

"Jiiiiiii….."

Touma was suddenly struck with a bad sense of foreboding while she continued staring at them. At this point, Index said while still biting him: "Come on, you can punish Touma too for him not buying your dinner as well."

"Wait a bloody minute there! Don't you dare give her some crazy ideas for her to learn, she should not be doing that, and.. Erm, Fraulein-chan, why are you coming over with that look in your eyes? Wait a second; ignore what Index said, she doesn't really mean that, you know!" Touma panicked seeing Fraulein crawling over like a certain horror character who crawled out of a well, opening her mouth very wide. _"No wait please, don't do it!"_

CHOMP!

**"GAHH! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"** Touma's scream rang out through the entire block in the night.

Truly, he was a very unfortunate person.

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

Here you go, another chapter. Phew, that took a while! Quite honestly, I did not expect having to write such a long chapter. I was thinking of writing a smaller one, or the most breaking it into 2, but the manner of the storyline made it a necessity to make into one chapter.

I had to edit it a little since NT7 started getting translated on Baka-Tsuki, and I do not want to clash with anything I have written.

When it came down to writing Index for this chapter, I must make a confession. Don't hate me for this, but I'm not a big fan of hers. True, she may be a walking encyclopedia of magic and she might have her moments, but let's be honest here, all she does is complain, eat, whine, and give trouble for the dude who had to suffer under her. I'm more into female characters such as Misaka, Orsola, Kanzaki Kaori, Itsuwa and maybe Kazakiri (who does not like a shy girl like her ^^)

For the next chapter, I'm thinking of taking a break from Touma and write about the other Level 5s and their friends, and what are their reactions to the rumors.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope I can get the new chapter out.


	4. Chapter 3-1: Misaka Mikoto POV

**Author's Notes:**

**This chapter is currently being split into several parts, in order to show you the different sides to the story based from the views of the Level 5s around. It's taking around to write, since there is so much about the Level 5s to write on, but some of them do not appear often enough to get a general feel, so please be patient with me.  
**

**Will try to update the story as soon as possible!  
**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

Misaka Mikoto POV

"So then, how was your day, Misaka-san?" Saten Ruiko asked while sipping some coffee before trying the chiffon cake before her.

"Oh it's okay, pretty much a quiet day. My school has been preparing for the next system scan coming up in a few weeks' time, so days like this are most welcome" Mikoto replied while drinking the Darjeeling Tea she had in front of her. "And yours?"

"Well, pretty much the same for us, since the Ichihanaran has ended, our school is one of the few in charge of clearing up the mess, so much of our lessons are cancelled. Right, Uiharu?" Saten turned to her friend with the flower decorations on her head, Uiharu Kazari, who was quiet for some time now.

"Mm. Hmmm" Uiharu gave a sound, concentrating on the fruit parfait she was enjoying with a very happy expression on her face. They were currently hanging out at the Pasticceria Manicagni, the Italian pastry shop/café located at the School Garden. The girls got some free time, so they decided to hang out together to catch up.

"By the way, Misaka-san, I don't mean to pry or anything but…" Saten trailed off, looking at Mikoto's right side. "What exactly happened to her?" she was referring to the sorry state of their fellow companion with twin tails, who was looking somewhat dazed with a rather lop-sided mouth.

"Kuruko was being a bit too clingy while coming here" Mikoto's face displayed a grimace as she put a hand to massage her forehead. "So I had to knock her out a bit" If this were an anime, Saten and Uiharu would be sweat dropping at this point, knowing full well it had to be more than just a little "knocked out".

"So, what did she do exactly?" "Well…"

* * *

_"Flashback"_

_"Onee-sama, you really should consider changing your underwear, it's not exactly feminine enough!" Kuruko insisted while she and Mikoto were walking to the café._

_"Firstly Kuruko, DON'T shout out to the world about my choice of undergarments" Mikoto growled at her. "And secondly, I like wearing this, this way I can move around faster without worrying of another looking up my skirt."_

_"Ah, Onee-sama! Why do you not act as the proper ojou-sama you are supposed to be?!" Kuruko dramatically said that while putting a hand to her head. Just then she noticed a shop they passed was a ladies' clothes shop, and so got an idea._

_"Onee-sama, why don't we get some new underwear for you right now? I'm sure we can some nice ones for you." Kuruko said in a very sweet tone, a tone which set off all alarms in Mikoto's head._

_"Don't even think about it Kuruko." Mikoto gave out some static electricity as a warning as she looked at Kuruko, who was starting to have a very scary look of depravity towards her._

_"Ah, Onee-sama, let's go in and get you some nice clothing's while we are at it!" Kuruko yelled as she jumped at Mikoto, her eyes flashing dangerously._

**_"KURUKO!" "BOOM!"_**

_"End Flashback"_

* * *

"And because she has grown immune to my electrical attacks at medium level, I had to combine both my wrestling moves with higher voltages in order to knock her out." Mikoto ended that discussion with a quick sip of her tea.

Saten and Uiharu could only offer their sympathies to Mikoto while privately thinking it may be an ideal (and perhaps only) way to deal with the masochist twin-tail girl who seemed to have turned the electric attacks into some twisted sense of pleasure.

"How about you guys, do you have scans coming up?" Mikoto asked. "Nope, we are not having any coming up." Uiharu replied, taking a break from the parfait.

"Speaking of system scans" Saten turned to Mikoto with a small glint in her eye. "Have you heard about the rumours regarding the supposed new Level 5 that popped up?" Being the lead conspiracy theorist of the group, she was always looking out for the leading rumors.

"Yeah, I have been hearing that for a few days now." Misaka replied as she set down her cup of tea. "But I don't know too much detail for that matter. Is it true though?"

"Well, there have been all those attacks on the Skill Outs and the Esper Gangs." Uiharu remarked as she reached for her drink. "And although there have been a few copycats, those have been identified and taken into custody. It was pretty clear that most were done by one individual whose abilities were not registered, and the level of those abilities is considered pretty high."

"Oh, so that means that the power of creating swords may be true" Saten said with glittering eyes. One could almost see sparkles around her as she tried imagining the target of the rumours.

"Oh please, there be absolutely no way for such a person to be true." The three turned to their twin-tailed companion who had managed to regain consciousness and was now reviving herself with a bit of coffee. "For one thing, why did he not announce himself? Wouldn't people want to be acknowledged for becoming Level 5?"

"Apparently, you have yet to meet the Number 6" Mikoto replied back easily, sipping her tea thoughtfully. "Eh, you met that person, Misaka-san?" Saten asked curiously.

"Not really, that person is a bit of a mystery, even by Level 5 standards." Mikoto answered. "No one knows the ability, the school, age, not even gender. That person prefers to stay under wraps and not get too involved with the rest of us." She decided to switch back to the previous topic before they started asking about the 6th which she did not know too much. "So how do you know if the ability used at the area is the same?"

"Ah, Anti-Skill had enlisted the help of the scientists who discovered the readings. They built a device that would show the type of ability and level of the esper in question." Uiharu said while rummaging through the bag she had at her side. "They also inputted the values of the unknown so that in the event any one of us does encounter him, we would know who he is." She pulled out a device and showed it to Mikoto. It looked a little like a small PDA, but with a slightly bigger screen with a small foldable antenna at the side.

"Hmm, I see." Mikoto murmured while examining the device. "But have you guys actually been to those places where the attacks took place?"

"For us, we are not allowed, but some of the senior Judgement members went with the Anti-Skill to check those areas and arrest the gangs attacked by him." Uiharu continued while taking small sips. "From what Konorii Sempai said, the gangs were all wanted for different crimes, some of which were serious enough for a lifetime in prison, so they have been avoiding detection all this time. It was surprising that not only have the criminals been accounted for, but one individual did all that without killing them."

"That is quite a way of doing it; most of the higher levels have trouble controlling their abilities to not kill them." Mikoto said. Considering she was the one who mostly blasted people without hesitation when fighting, she was not one to talk, but that was for her to know.

"Yeah, but because of these attacks, the remaining gangs out there have been getting a little more aggressive." Kuruko took over after taking a bite of the chocolate cake she just ordered. "We have been getting reports of some of the gangs joining forces in order to find this person, and that has gotten some of the seniors worried. It's one thing with Skill-Outs, but it is an entirely different ball game with some of the Esper gangs, since quite a few of them are Level 3s with a bit of violence in their rap-sheet, not to mention a couple of Level 4s with them"

"That would be a problem." Mikoto crossed her arms and pondered about what she just heard. It was not like she did not understand the reason for attacking those gangs. Some of the Skill Outs have some major prejudice towards espers, so they did not hold any distinction between any of them, even if they were innocent. And when it came to those Esper Gangs, some of the members were just plain nasty. But if the guy keeps on attacking them, things would get more serious.

"If you guys need help rounding them up, you guys can call me." Mikoto suggested that option. "And if need be, I can also look for that guy and maybe I can give him a couple of "_suggestions_" on holding back."

"Onee-sama, you should not bother yourself with such nonsense!" Kuruko said with a wave of her hand. "Even if this guy is supposedly a Level 5, or at least a Level higher than most, compared to you, he is but a small fly"

"Maybe, but if such a person does exist, it would be interesting, right?" Mikoto replied back. After all, if a certain unfortunate fellow who kept claiming to be a Level 0 could cancel out any power, what was to say about a man who had the power of a Level 5 to create blade weapons and not hurt them fatally?

"I wonder how do the other Level 5s think about this?" Saten wondered out loud as she proceeded to finish the chiffon cake. Mikoto shrugged, while thinking privately about the supposed reactions. She wasn't too sure about the second and the sixth, the first would probably just dismiss it, the fourth may consider a little and the seventh would probably challenge the person for a battle of "**_guts_**". As for the fifth..

_"Wonder how does the Queen feel about this?"_

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

Just a short part on Misaka Mikoto, and how she views the rumors about the supposed Level 5. Hopefully I can get Shoukuhou POV soon, and then the rest.

Hope You enjoyed this short chapter, and hope I can get new parts soon.

Q&A Corner:

**Q1.** Why does the OC have an English name?

Answer: I will be getting to that, be what I can say is that the character is actually half Japanese and half Caucasian. Appearance wise, think of him like Gilgamesh in plain clothes, minus the titan-sized ego and make him more cheerful, with a slight pessimism from Shikamaru of Naruto. (Such a drag!)

** Q2.** Why is there an English street name?

Answer:Reasons were:

1 - Since District 3 is open to the public, I figured some names should more or less be in different languages.

2 - Decker's Street pretty much came to my head after watching a trailer from Fox TV XD

3 - If there can be an Italian cafe name, why not an English Street Name?

**Q3.** Why did you say Imagine Breaker did not work on the Esper's ability of sword-making?

Answer: Again, I will come to that soon. I got some ideas to explain that based from information gathered from the wiki and novels. Please be patient XP


	5. Chapter 3-2: Shokuhou Misaki POV

**Author's Notes:**

**Second part of Chapter 3, this time on our favorite Mental Out Esper. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

Shoukuhou Misaki POV

"I hope the tea is to your satisfaction, Misaki-sama" a girl with short bob hair asked as she bowed slightly forward towards the girl who was seated next to the window.

"Yes, it is very nice, thank you" Misaki said after taking a sip of it. She ignored the look of elation on the girl and the looks of jealousy of those watching them and just looked outside the window while letting her mind wonder.

Misaki and her clique were currently in one of the discussion rooms in Tokiwadai Middle School. This room however, was made into Misaki's personal room to accommodate her group, so it was often used for the group's relaxation purposes.

Misaki was thinking back to the time when she went to a Certain High School to find someone. While there, she met Mikoto and gleefully sent other bystanders, watching through their eyes as Mikoto kept running away from them, since she cannot use her powers against the innocent. Once Misaki was sure Mikoto had gone long enough, she went on to find that person.

Unfortunately, not only could she not find that person, she ended up bumping into _Kumokawa Seria_ and somehow managed to get dragged into a beauty competition at Eiri Academy High School, _dressed in a swimsuit!_

Honestly, she could not fathom the possibilities on how she managed to get herself into such a situation.

Whatever thoughts she had got interrupted as she took notice of a couple of girls from her clique huddling close to a laptop while discussing in a low voice. "Is there a problem, girls?"

The two of them jumped as Misaki asked them, looking a little sheepish as they thought of how to reply to her. The girl with the bob hair answered the question for them.

"It was regarding those rumors that have been going around for quite some time now, the supposed Level 5 who went around attacking the Skill Outs and Esper Gangs. You do not need to bother yourself about this."

"Oh, is that so?" Misaki raised an eyebrow as she eyed them. She never really bothered about rumors and gossips much, she only kept an occasional eye on them in the event she could find something to use as leverage.

Oh well, she needed the break from the (what she considered) silly fiasco regarding Mikoto, Seria and that person.

"I heard about the rumors. Why don't you girls fill me in on the details and your thoughts about him?" Misaki paused before adding in one other bit. "And don't need to hold back anything, just tell me everything you know."

After a bit of hesitation, the girls started telling her about what they knew about the person, and the results of his actions. Misaki mostly listened while briefly using her abilities to read their minds. It was a habit of hers, since most tend to say one thing but think another; it was a way of figuring out how one truly felt about a certain matter.

"So then, what do you girls think?" Misaki inquired after they finished explaining the rumors to her. She noted that they had not told her the whole truth and that the bits they did say, they said it in a manner that suggested they did not want her to worry about the strength of the person in question.

One of the 2 girls, the one with short brown hair, replied: "To be honest, we do not know. Since the attacks and arrests did happen, we had to assume that such a person exists in Academy City. On the one hand, this person is a person who can get rid of the scum on the streets." Being a girl from a higher standing society, her views were limited to what some would call "_the nobles' way of thinking_" – men who preyed on women, or gentlemen who would sweep them off their feet, stuff like that.

"That being said, the methods are too barbaric" The second girl, one with a pony tail and glasses, followed. "He just attacks them mercilessly and though none were injured, it seems that they were completely traumatized from the experience, even if it was meant to save others or to punish them for their crimes."

"Trust me, I can say that compared to _**some**_ of the Level 5s I know, he's relatively tame" Misaki remarked, remembering her first few encounters with her fellow Esper Elites. Accelerator made no mistake in showing his ruthlessness and arrogance, something his rival Kakine Teikitou also displayed. Mugino Shizuri had some major temper and pride issues that made their first meeting rather 'eventful'.

As for the elusive Number 6, well the less said about that person the better. And she **DID NOT** want to get started on Sogiita Gunha. She suppressed a shudder at the memory of her first meeting with him; unlike her more violent equals, this guy took his 'wildness' to such limits in his pursuit for 'guts', she still got mental scars from that encounter.

"Misaki-sama, is something the matter?" The one with short brown hair asked her with a concern look, breaking her thoughts thankfully. She must have wondered about the look that had passed on Misaki's face while she was remembering the past a little.

"Oh, it is nothing. I was just remembering some rather bad memories" Misaki assured the girl with a wave of her hand. It may not be graceful, but it was enough to comfort the girl.

"But in any case, it really isn't something you should worry about, Misaki-sama" the girl with bob hair said. "There is absolutely no one who could be another Level 5; it just doesn't make sense."

"I'm a little flattered, but I should tell you one thing" Misaki said with a wry smile. "When it comes to us Level 5s, common sense is not to be expected. And as much as I like to say I am better than the rest, there are the 2 monsters of the group." Granted, she would never admit that she would lose to Mikoto, but when it came to the Number 1 and 2, those two were on a class of their own, there was absolutely no way she would want to go against them.

"Basically, it boils down to whether this so called "Swordsman" would become a Level 5. If he does come out, well then" Misaki gave a smile, hinting of a challenge, "I guess **_I_** will have to welcome him to the ranks huh?"

As the girls talked and praised her for her idea, Misaki let her mind wonder for one last time regarding that person, and more so than her liking, her fellow Level 5s.

_Wonder how do they feel about this?_

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

I should be getting out Accelerator's part soon, so please wait. And regarding some of the questions people had ask about OC, please be patient, I'm already doing a draft for chapter 4, that would include a bit of the stuff, hopefully it works out.

Hope You enjoyed this short chapter, and hope I can get new parts soon.


	6. Chapter 3-3: Accelerator POV

**Author's Notes:**

**Here is the 3rd part of Chapter 3, your favorite psychotic Level 5 Esper. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

Accelerator POV

Yomikawa Aiho sighed as she opened the door to her apartment. She worked overnight to deal with the arrests of those Skill Outs and Esper gangs that have been attacked by that vigilante, and she needed to go and deal with the damages that were still there after those attacks. With all that has happened, she needed a break.

"Welcome back, Misaka says as she comes over to give Yomikawa a much needed hug." A small ten year old girl with the likeness of Misaka Mikoto came along and hugged her in the middle.

Yomikawa smiled at the little girl who was burying her face on her. All the stress and tiredness seemed to go away seeing that little act; it was all worth it, just as long as little kids like her can enjoy a peaceful life.

"Thank you, Last Order. Hope your day was good" Yomikawa said while patting the little girl's head. This was the girl who one could get sentimental for.

"Welcome back, old hag." _'And then we have the kid who does not seem to know how to express that sentiment properly'_, thought Yomikawa as she turned her head towards the couch, where a certain albino was laying down with a completely bored look.

"Hello to you too, Accelerator" Yomikawa said back with a tired smile. "Thank you for taking care of the house while I was away." Accelerator answered with a mere wave of his hand. "Where are the others?" Yomikawa asked while looking around. "Worst went out for a while with that Kuro brat, and the other freeloader went to get another job application" Accelerator said all that without bothering to get up. Honestly he was so lazy.

"So what took you so long in coming back huh?" Accelerator asked her while still lying down on the couch.

"Haa, it is all because of the recent attacks on those Skill-Outs and Esper Gangs" Yomikawa sighed while taking off some of her gear she had on her. "I had to handle much of the arrests and detainment of those involved. It does not help much with profiling when the few who were conscious, were pretty much flipping off the mental scale. All of them have been majorly traumatized from the attacks."

"Are you talking about the attacks that were done by a supposed Level 5? Misaka asks while tilting her head and remembering hearing those rumors from the Sisters"

"Yup, that would be the one." Yomikawa nodded her head tiredly. "Honestly, it's not like I don't appreciate the guy taking out the gangs, but seriously, can he at least do it without causing so much damage to the area? If what they said about him capable of creating blades to attack is true, that attack strength must be** nuts!**"

Accelerator snorted at her reply. Honestly, he did not care too much about the attacks on those people, many of them had it coming for quite some time, and it was just a matter of time before someone came along to take of them. It just so happened that someone took that matter in his own hands before Judgement or Anti Skill, and that someone had a rather _unique_ way of dishing out punishment.

"I don't suppose you know anything about this?" Yomikawa directed that question at Accelerator. He rolled his eyes and replied: "Whatever makes you think I would know anything about this?"

"Oh, thought you would" Yomikawa paused before giving out a mischievous smile. "I mean, would you not be interested in the possibility of a new Level 5 joining the ranks? Or perhaps" Yomikawa paused for a second before adding: "maybe you are a little scared about one who may be as strong as you." Accelerator got up from the couch and gave a glare that would make some of the most hardened street thugs pee in their pants, but Yomikawa just looked at him coolly.

"Yeah right, I'm sure I can easily handle that guy without any problem." Accelerator said that with a sneer, and he meant it. He was not the Number One Esper for show, what with his passive abilities able to take on armies on his own; he can easily handle any one, even if he had that head injury that prevented him from using his full strength.

"Misaka thinks that Accelerator can take on anyone! Misaka says while puffing out her chest proudly with hands on her hips!" Last Order said while doing the action with gusto.

"Ok, point taken." Yomikawa put up her hands in resignation. "There are also some facts we did not release to the public, such as witnesses to some of the attacks." At this point Accelerator was curious enough to listen to what she said. "For some of the cases, there were girls being harassed and attacked by those gangs, and those guys were just about to do something" At this point Yomikawa made a bad face like she sucked on a sour plum. "_Nasty_ to them, when the guy shows up to save them. The only thing we do know is that he's male, wears a dark jacket and has the unknown ability to create swords and other bladed weapons."

"Hmph, good for them then. He may be able to handle the gangs, but it takes more than just power if he desires to be a hero" Accelerator said it with a smirk on his face. Considering this was the guy who pretty much bulldozed his way anywhere, he wasn't exactly the right person to say. But he and Last Order understood what he said. After all, there was that certain unfortunate fellow with the right hand and the courage to stand up against all odds and win.

"Yeah well, things won't get too peaceful for a while" Yomikawa sighed again as she went to the kitchen to grab a drink. "Because of the attacks, the remaining gangs have started to band together to hunt him down, and some of the more extreme fellows are venting their frustration by attacking other bystanders indiscriminately. They seem to think that doing so would force the guy out or even get lucky by hitting him first."

At this point, Yomikawa got a call from her friend, so she went to her room to answer, leaving Accelerator to his thoughts as he absentmindedly ruffled with Last Order's head and ignoring her complaints.

Accelerator felt it was a ridiculous notion that someone who could be a potential Level 5 would go around just attacking low lever scum and not announce himself. Most espers would jump at the opportunity to show themselves to the world.

Then again, there was the girlfriend of that Hamazura Shiage whom he heard had the potential to turn the entire Level System over its head, and then there was the elusive Number 6. And talking about heroes who do not let themselves known of their work, there was always that "fucking hero".

Still, the idea of a man who creates weapons intrigued Accelerator. Having stepped into the world of magic, he had seen people use abilities that did not comply with the laws of science. While Espers were limited to one type of ability, magicians have access to multiple types of abilities to handle the fights. Having fought a few himself, he knew they could present a challenge to a few.

If this person was the same, would that make him a magician? Probably not; the fact that system scans picked out something meant this person was an esper, albeit an unusual one who acted as a hero. If his strength was the real deal, how would Accelerator fare towards him?

Accelerator gave a rather sinister smile at that thought. If he ever meets this guy in the future, he would test him to see if he can prove himself worthy of the title "Hero".

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

Right then, that's all for chapter 3. I have written the other Level 5s' parts, but I figured you would want to get on with the main story right? No problem, Chapter 4 will soon be uploaded, just some grammar editing and a bit of tidying up.

Also, for those who had asked about my OC, you will be getting some clues in the following chapters.

I read up on NT7, so I inserted the last paragraph to show how Accelerator thinks about people who want to be heroes. Makes you feel bad for anyone trying to make that claim huh? XP

I figured I could find some way to fit the story into it. Maybe I would make future stories set during and after NT7.

How does that sound?

Spoiler Alert:

_"How about a little match, to see your abilities?"_

Hope You enjoyed this short chapter, and hope I can get out the new parts soon.


	7. Chapter 4: The Meeting 2

**Author's Notes**

**Kept you guys waiting, here's the new chapter for the story. For the following chapters, I will be dropping clues for the person in question, see if you guys can tell about his abilities.**

**Took me quite a while to write this, because I wanted to put in a fight between Misaka and Samuel here, but it got to the point where I figured it would be best to split it.  
**

**Q&A Corner:**

**One of you guys mentioned about my part on Aleister supposedly trying to avoid involving Alpha Omega into the Dark Side too much and the part about him "slightly" messing with the personal life. Here's the thing: I meant it such that Aleister was being sarcastic about it. I mean, if you have another person who could potentially bring about another Level 6 candidate to the mix, would you not want him in? That's why I would take my time to explain it slowly..**

**Other than that, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

_**"GET UP FREAK!"**__ A shout reverberated in the small room, littered with empty beer bottles, and stunk of cigarette smoke and unwashed laundry. _

_A burly man continuously kicked a small boy while shouting at him. The boy, barely 10 years old, was too scared and beat up to do anything; all he could do was to use his arms to shield his face and endure the constant barrage of kicks and abuse as long as he could. Maybe if he hung on long enough, the man would tire of hitting him._

_"Stop it, you are hurting him!" A scream caused the boy to let down his guard and turn his face towards its source, something the man took advantage of by aiming his leg and kicked with full force, sending him flat on the ground, leaving him open to more attacks._

_"I said stop it!" A girl, 2 years older than him, came into the boy's view. NO! The boy thought as he saw her crash into the man and tried unsuccessfully to stop him from continuing his tirade. The man merely lifted her by the hand, and ignoring her yelps of pain, threw her at the boy, who desperately caught her with his small arms._

_"Stay out of this, girl! Both of you are nothing but trouble for me!" The guy shouted while tossing some of the bottles at them. All missed and hit the wall, showering the 2 of them with glass shards. The man snarled and turned around to go outside. He paused at the door and yelled: "You brats better clear up this mess by the time I come back, or else you will get it!" With that he slammed the door and locked it, leaving the two children in the dark._

_All the boy could do was to hug the girl who was sobbing at his side. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" The boy could only apologize to her. The girl stopped crying for a while, turned her head and gave a small smile. "It's okay, I told you. I will protect you." She said, putting her arms around the boy and hugged him gently. "Please, let me stay like this for now." The girl said, with her body starting to shudder and the sounds of her crying starting again. The boy held her with his tiny arms, and let her cry on his shoulders as he thought of all that had transpired._

_Why did it have to happen to them? What had they done to deserve this?_

_The despair grew in him, before giving way to a rage that would consume him for years to come._

_He would never forgive any of them._

_He would never forgive that man who kept hurting them._

_He would never forgive the men who tried abusing the girl who had protected him._

_He would never forgive the women who constantly mock them for being unwanted._

_He would never forgive the children who kept bullying them for being "half-blood"._

_And above all else, he would never forgive __**that person who left both of them in this hell!**_

* * *

"…"

Samuel looked up at the ceiling as he lay on the bed, with sweat running down his face and neck and his breathing erratic. It took him a few deep breaths to calm his heart down before he could think properly.

**That damn memory again.**

The guy let out a sigh as he got out of his bed and headed to the bathroom. He had not dreamed that accursed memory for quite a while now, and quite frankly, he wished he did not have to ever again. He opened the tap and let the water flow into his open palms, briefly looking at his own reflection in the water before splashing it onto his face. As he let the water drip of his face, he noted that his clothes stuck to him a little tightly, and upon sniffing them, found out that he had sweated quite a fair bit.

"Damn, looks like I would need a shower" Samuel muttered as he went to strip off his pajamas, pausing for a moment in front of the mirror to check his physique. Samuel did not normally care too much about his looks, but that did not mean he wanted to be fat. He just did not want to look like those super-buffed body builders with too much muscle on them. So he just trained his body enough to keep fit. Nevertheless, the reflection showed a body that would (unknown to him) make his male course-mates envious while making the females faint with looks of embarrassment and bliss.

He had a well-toned body that showed an ideal six pack and a broad chest. There was no excess fat on his back and his legs showed he had done a lot of leg training. With the Asian blood he got from his mother's side, his features made him look like he was caught between times, both young and yet matured enough to look like his mid-20s.

Perhaps the only thing that could tarnish this image was the long scar that ran along his left side of the body, located near the kidney. Samuel looked at the reflection of the scar with disdain. He wished he could remove it. A reminder of his past was not something he wanted to start the day with.

He shook his head and entered the shower. He **_really_** shouldn't think of that so early in the morning.

* * *

After showering, Samuel stepped out to his room with a towel around his neck. He lived alone in this apartment, so he did not really bother too much about walking around naked. The apartment was a 4-room flat, ideal for a small family and more than enough for him. That said, it was barely furnished, only having a small sofa and a small television set in the living room, and a small table with a couple of chairs at the dining room. The only place that looked remotely filled up was the study room which he was headed to. It was the largest room of the apartment, so he used it to hold a collection of books like history, science and chemistry, a small desk for his work and a small cabinet containing souvenirs and artifacts he was helping to restore as part of his part time work with the university, resulting in what some might consider being a cross between a small workshop and a museum.

Samuel went to the desk to check on his latest work, repairing a small model ship based on the 1917 merchant ship of Macau, when he noticed the light on his answering machine blinking. Since he wasn't always at home, he ended up collecting a lot of messages. Samuel started the machine and let it run through its message while he went to put on some clothes. The first message was about his friends going out for a group outing and asking if he was free over the weekend, the second was from his professor asking about the progress of his work and the third (to his chagrin) was from the landlord who told him that although Samuel managed to pay off the electric bills, he needed to be careful otherwise the landlord will have to cut him off.

Honestly, his restoration job had helped with paying off his bills, but he needed another job to cover the expenses properly. Samuel sighed, thinking that was all the messages. He was wrong.

"Mr DanQuein, this is Lee Shin from the EXCOM Delivery Services. Regarding your application for the job of delivering the goods, you might be pleased to know that it went through." Samuel's eyes twitched at that part. "You should have gotten the mail by now"

Samuel turned his head towards the small pile of letters that were on the desk. He had not checked them much, mainly because most were either pamphlets or university notices, with occasional junk mail. He quickly sifted through the mail until he saw the envelope with the company's logo on it. He grabbed it and tore off the seal, pulled out the letter and read it with shaking hands.

Yes, he was finally going to get a job and be able to pay off his bills, and maybe have a decent meal in a while! Samuel was in a short moment of heaven until the voice started talking. In a twisted way, the next part of the message seemed oddly timed to take him down from heaven to hell.

"However, in order to fully accept your application, we need you to talk to someone who can assess your abilities properly, since we are basically delivering goods to espers." Samuel looked at the answering machine in disbelief, as if he was talking directly with the person in charge. _"What?"_ was all he could say before the voice continued to relay the message.

"You would need to meet someone called" At this point there was the soft rustling sound of paper, like the person was sifting through some notes to find the name. "Kumokawa Seria for your assessment. She agreed to help, just make sure you are not late for the interview at 11 am."

As the guy relayed the directions to a certain café, Samuel looked at the clock and found that it was already 10 o'clock, and the café he had to go to was roughly an hour away. Even if he managed to catch the bus on time, he would probably be late by 10 minutes. What was he going to do?!

"That would be all. Hope you get the job!" The voice finished with that line. As Samuel looked at the answering machine, there was only one thing he could say.

**"CRAP! I'm about to be late! This is _SUCH A DRAG!_"**

* * *

**"This is _SUCH MISFORTUNE!_"**

Touma thought wearily as he moved along the street with Index at his side. He barely had enough sleep from the relentless attacks initiated by Index and Fraulein, who had vanished this morning. Upon waking up, he had to quickly outwit Index into going out for breakfast without getting his head bitten again. His quick talk paid off in stopping her, the problem was…

"Touma, I am hungry. Can we go to another store to eat?" Index asked while her stomach growled at a volume that seemed impossible for a girl of her stature.

"We just ate at that store an hour ago, and you ate enough to last a week! Because of that, I ran out of money for this month, and we got banned from going to that store again!" Touma moaned in despair while holding his head in his hands. "Honestly, _can't you eat less_?!"

"But Touma, there was only bread, cereal, biscuits, canned food, ham, bacon and eggs! Don't they know that people can starve to death!?"

"Normal people don't starve after eating that much, in fact they will probably be in the hospital for major indigestion!" Touma said in disbelief as he looked at the girl.

Honestly, he was a very unfortunate person.

As he continued to moan mentally about the crap that had happened, he noticed Index had stopped and was looking around the area with a frown on her face. "What's the matter now, Index?" _'Hope she is not thinking of biting me here, since there isn't any stores around'_ Touma thought mentally.

"Touma, the feeling of the Ley Lines around here are a little odd. Honestly why do you people create these buildings?! They are completely affecting the flow of the Power of the World!" Index said loudly with an expression that was between a scowl and a frown.

_The Ley Lines?_ Touma frowned at her words. "Is that not considered the veins of the world, or something similar?"

"Touma, have you forgotten? It is the current of power that runs through the earth, using number alignments while utilising terrain and monuments, among other geographical interests." Index recited that line from her perfect memory. "Its power is often the reason that magicians try to move it in a manner that would aid them in their work. But whoever is the architect, he did not bother to check about the placement at all, he just builds randomly and now the energy has gotten messed up!" Index ended that with a yell.

Touma thought of telling Index the architect would have absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but decided not to do so out of an instinct that told him he would experience a biting session, and also to distract himself of the predicament he was in with the information.

He remembered that alchemist, Aureolus Izzard, infiltrated and used the Misawa Cram School to cut off a Ley Line that passed through it, thus utilising its power for his own magic. He also recalled that although he could use Imagine Breaker to destroy them, it would be pointless, since it was considered both a natural and unnatural power, it would just return, perhaps in its unaltered state.

It was remembering this fact that brought back the memory of the other night, with the man who wields blades.

Touma did not really tell Index too much about the guy of the rumors who had been attacking the Esper gangs and Skill Outs. For one thing, Index was completely clueless regarding the life of Academy City and would probably have questions marks floating on top of her head. Another thing was that Index would scoff at anything with esper-powers, since she thought of them as being a blasphemy to her Lord, a sentiment that Touma felt regarding the Gods that made up the core of magic, since he believed that science could explain many of the known disasters, not to mention his Imagine Breaker could negat God's Miracles.

Lastly, Touma decided not to tell Index about how Imagine Breaker did not cancel out that guy's ability of swords. One reason was not to worry her, the other was so he could make his own assumptions about the matter

It was strange to say the least. He had fought against homicidal espers, fanatical magicians, overpowered church militants, a majin god, and last but not least, _**Archangel Gabriel** of all things_. And he had done all that with Imagine Breaker by his side long enough to get a general feel of pitting its power against others.

Typical brawls or street-fights with lower level espers or magicians casting their spells made Imagine Breaker give a feeling of indifference, like it could not be bothered with them. A fight with higher level espers likes Misaka Mikoto or stronger magicians like Aqua, Imagine Breaker would have the feeling of 'determination', like it would want to go against them and nullify their abilities completely. And when it came to the seriously overpowered monsters like Black-Winged Accelerator or Fiamma of the Right (at this point Touma suppressed a shudder), it was like it hit a wall of sorts, or perhaps it was the case of the unstoppable versus the unmovable, either one would give way in the end.

So when it came to the guy with the swords, the feeling was a little… upsetting. Maybe_ 'allowed to exist'_ was not the right way of describing it; when Imagine Breaker touched the sword, he could feel it actually working a bit, but then it stopped erasing it and just let it stay there. Compared to the higher level attacks of enemies that felt like hitting a wall, this gave the feeling of trying close a river channel while having a big leak in the center. There would still be power coming through and the funny part was the idea it was meant to be there, like Imagine Breaker decided rather than nullify it, it just figured maybe it should not erase it.

"Touma!" Index's voice broke his thoughts and brought him back to reality. "Touma, I said, why don't we eat here?" Index pointed to a nearby café alongside the road. Touma looked at it and felt his heart sank. This café was famous among the college and university students in the district and infamous for the price tags for some of the dishes. Considering her appetite, Index was guaranteed to clear out the café and make Touma officially bankrupt.

Could this day get any worse?

"Oui, you idiot!" A shout and a flash made Touma react on instinct and raised his right arm on time to block the lightning bolt that came from in front of him. Touma waited for a second before opening his eyes carefully to see a pissed off Misaka Mikoto

"Hello there, Biri Biri, ah such misfortune" Touma said wearily before having to block another lightning bolt. "It is not Biri Biri, it's MISAKA MIKOTO, YOU JERK!" Mikoto said angrily as she stared at him. "And what do you mean such misfortune?! Do you associate me with such a phrase?"

"Ah, it is Tanpatsu" Index said while frowning. Because Touma went to block the attack, he stumbled and ended up knocking her to the ground. "Why are you here?"

"This idiot went back and forth all over Academy City to deal with some mess up plot again, goes to get healed by some French blonde girl and not giving me a proper explanation for anything! I have been trying to get him to talk but he keeps on running away damn it!" Mikoto said with extreme indignation. There was also the fact that Mikoto saw them walking on the street and was wondering what they were dong, but she did not have to tell them that.

"Wait a second, Misaka! The reason for running away was not because of not telling you, but rather your explosive tendency to want to fire your bolts at me every single time!" Touma shouted while backing away from her. Just as he was contemplating on rather to rush past her or to turn and run when he heard a growl. Nervously, he turned to see a rather red-faced Index.

"Touma, why is it when I talk to you, you don't reply back immediately, but Tanpatsu gets it instantly?" Index growled at the trembling Kamijou Touma, who was contemplating the best route for escape. Is this what they call "caught between a tiger and a dragon"? If he ran away from Index, he would get fried by Biri Biri. If he ran away from Misaka, Index would get a rare Kamijou Touma Head Steak. What was he to do?!

**"Touma / You Idiot!"**

_**"DARN IT! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"**_

* * *

Samuel had _**no idea**_ what he was witnessing.

He was dashing to the café in order to find this Kumokawa Seria to get his interview pass through, when he saw Kamijou Touma a few feet in front of him. with a girl who was dressed in white nunnery clothes. Just as he was about to call out to him, a short hair Tokiwadai girl came along and started firing lightning bolts at the guy. Touma managed to react in time by raising his right hand, and with the sound of glass breaking, stopped the attack. As Samuel wondered what had happened to warrant such an attack, he saw that the nun (?) who fell down from his stumbling jumped up on him and sunk her teeth into his head, causing him to yell out while the short hair came over and wrestled with him.

Before Samuel could think any further, the situation in front started escalating in a manner he did not expect. Firstly, an elementary school girl (?) with pink hair came along and grabbed his arm, followed by a girl, who had a huge forehead and was seriously developed for her age, proceeding to scold him in public. After that, a high school girl with glasses and huge breasts who was wearing a Kirigaoka Academy winter uniform came along to try and help him with the nun still biting on his head, but somehow got dragged around to the point Touma's head got sandwiched between her breasts and that of the girl with the forehead. And if that was not enough, along came 2 other girls from opposite directions, one of whom was dressed in a manner that was practically asking for someone to attack her, the other was whom he described as a "Beauty Senior".

Idly Samuel wondered if he should consider moving past the group quickly or to just turn around and take a round-about and just deny any association with Touma when he saw his head pop out of the marshmallow heaven (hell?) he was in. Touma took some deep breaths before seeing Samuel in front of him and going considerably redder with embarrassment.

'Well, scratch that idea out.' Samuel thought as he resigned himself to the fiasco he knew he was going to get dragged into somehow. Honestly, if something went wrong, he was so going to make Touma pay for it dearly.

"Hey Touma, nice to see you again" Samuel said while attempting to give what he hoped was a smile and not a smirk to find the situation funny. Apparently it was not successful, because Touma looked both dejected and betrayed at his comment and expression.

"Touma, who is this guy?" Index asked with a barely audible voice, impressive considering she had her mouth chomping on his head at full force. Samuel thought of asking them why she was doing this, but figured it best not to do so.

"The name is Samuel DanQuein, pleased to meet you all" Samuel replied back while bowing his head. That temporarily stopped the girls from arguing on top of Touma as they turned to face him. Samuel nodded at their expressions, guessing what they were thinking.

"Yes, I am half Caucasian and half Asian, thus I have an English name" Samuel gave that reply to them. "I moved into Academy City roughly five years ago, so I guess that makes one of the few 'foreign' students heh?" The others nodded to show their understanding.

"Then what is your Asian name?" Index asked him, finally freeing Touma from her relentless attacks. Touma took the chance to grab her and put her on the ground quickly.

Samuel hesitated for a second before saying: "I don't really have an Asian name, they never gave me one" The others noted he looked to the side as he said that, but decided not to press him. Something which Index did not seem to get a clue about, as she tried to asked again.

"Hmm, but should you not have an Asian. .." She was about to press further before Touma wrapped his hand around her mouth to stop her. "Now Index, you should not be asking him like this." Touma said while covering her mouth securely. He turned to look at Samuel who looked deep in thought. He figured he better distract him from whatever bad memories he had.

"So then why are you here?" Touma's question brought Samuel out of his thoughts and made him realize he was really late for his appointment.

"Crap! I'm about to be late for my interview! How the hell do I find this Kumokawa Seria in time?!" Samuel cried out while turning to dash towards the café. He really needed the devil's luck for this.

"Ah, there is no need for you to panic" Samuel turned around to see the "Beauty Senior" giving a knowing smirk. "You made it on time, DanQuein-san. I only happened to come a little later."

Huh? Samuel thought while looking at the girl. Okay, this was unexpected. He figured it would be a female he had to look out for, but he thought she was either an office girl or maybe a senior lady of the company. He did not expect this high school girl, a "Beauty Senior" to be the one for the interview. Looks like he _had_ the Devil's Luck on his side.

"I guess I should introduce them to you, DanQuein-san" Touma said while freeing himself from the position he was in. "That is my senpai, Kumokawa Seria" The raven haired beauty waved her hand. "This little one is Index" The nun waved her hand while still struggling to be free from his grip on her mouth. "This is Fukiyose Seiri, my classmate" The girl with the huge forehead and developed body nodded her head. "And this is Tsukuyomi Komoe, my Sensei" Touma waved to the little pink-haired girl.

"What?" Samuel raised an eyebrow as he looked at the small girl. "You are kidding, right?" "No, I'm not. She really is my sensei and she is a lot older than you think." Touma said in a manner that suggested this was not the first time people asked. Samuel could only stare as the little one bowed and introduced herself. He had heard rumours about the supposed reverse aging process, but he always thought it was hogwash. Even with the state of the art technology, he thought it was impossible to stop aging permanently. But faced with the living proof, Samuel only had one thing to think of: _what would happen if any of his course mates in the science club got word of this person?_

"This girl here is Kazakiri Hyouka" The Kirigaoka Academy girl bowed shyly at her introduction. "And then we have Biri Biri, from .. WAIT A SECOND WHY ARE YOU GIVING OFF ELECTRICITY?" Touma suddenly yelled during his introduction as the Tokiwadai girl started giving large bolts of electricity. "You ask why?! I told you that my NAME IS MISAKA MIKOTO, YOU JERK!" She shouted while shooting off a bolt of lightning at him. As the exchange happened before him, Samuel noted the oddly dressed girl gave a humorous smirk before disappearing._ 'Guess that makes her a teleporter'_ Samuel thought before a loud thunder clap got his attention back to the situation.

Touma had managed to stop her electric attacks so far, but tripped on the seventh time. As he was trying to get up, Index grabbed his arm while biting his head at the same time for blocking her mouth, thus leaving him open for a huge bolt of lightning coming straight for him. Touma sweated at the possibility of getting electrocuted big time. At least he won't have to worry about the food issues for now, as he closed his eyes awaiting for the pain to come.

A flash of bright light went through his closed eyes, followed by the sound of the electricity. Touma waited for a few seconds before realizing something was wrong. Why was he not shocked yet? He opened his eyes slowly to find an iron pole had sprung up from the ground. It was smoking from where the lightning bolt had hit it, leaving it blackened at one side.

Mikoto had an odd expression crossed between shock and that of suffocation. Understandable, considering someone managed to stop her attack that effectively. As they wondered who, they heard a sigh and turned their heads to see Samuel moving his hands to the side and lifting his leg from the kneeling position he was in.

"As much as you probably want to shock him, can you please hold back on your attacks? You are in a public area, and I would think that a noble girl like you should be more aware of your appearance and that of your school." Samuel commented while looking around. There were a few bystanders that were staring at the lot, some whispering at the display of craziness that occurred. Samuel sighed again as he lifted his leg and slammed his foot on the ground. The iron pole glowed for a few seconds before losing its form and sunk back to the ground, restoring it to its original state.

"Right then DanQuein-san. Why don't we step inside to discuss about your job requirements?" Seria said with an expression that showed she was clearly used and enjoyed seeing this type of situation that was happening in front of him. Samuel could only nod his head and go along with the flow, leaving the others behind. He better get this interview done before he loses what little sanity he had from this mess.

* * *

"Ah, so you were actually getting a job" Touma asked in the café they were in. They were sitting at a table next to a window overlooking the street, with Index occupying the window side and devouring a plate full of food.

"That's correct" Samuel replied while sipping some coffee. In the 10 minutes that Touma spent trying to calm the situation where Index and Mikoto were fighting again, Samuel managed to secure the job offer with Seria and even got other details down. It would seem that the other girls went off their respective ways.

"You see, there was a job offer for one of the delivery services around, and they needed someone who could handle delivering goods to espers who have a bit of 'anger issues', and also one who had some connections to the university I'm studying at, Dangai University" At this point Touma frowned but held back his thoughts, remembering the previous time he was there.

"Okay then, now spill it! How did you stop my attack?" Mikoto demanded as she stared at him. She must have been really bugged by him blocking her attack that easily. 'Guess she's the type who is a sore loser' Samuel thought before deciding to tease her. He assumed a pose that would seem that he was addressing a junior from his university.

"_Please_, you are an electro-master; you should know precisely how I stopped it." Samuel purposely said it in a manner that would irritate her. Touma listening in on the conversation gave a slight smile of amusement and fear for the girl's reaction to his words. "Any kid would know that in order to avoid electrocution, you need to ground yourself to pass the current through. What better way to direct all that electricity to the ground than a big iron pole?"

"_That's not what I was asking_!" Mikoto said while flushing red from his tone. "What I am asking is what type of power do you have to do that?" Before Samuel could answer that, a voice came from behind him. "That is the reason he was asked to come here." Everyone turned to see Seria walking towards their table.

"Right then, there seems to be no problem with your application" Seria said as she sat down at the table. "My friend must really want you if he asked me to check on you personally"

"So, Senpai knows someone who could offer jobs?" Touma asked with a somewhat hopeful look on his face. "Yes, but before you ask, I'm afraid you won't be able to make it. And two, I'm only here to confirm his application" Touma hung his head, dejected.

"Anyway, DanQuein-san" Seria continued her conversation. "The reason why I'm here is to see whether you are able to handle espers during your delivery. My friend suggested you to take a test where you have to go against several espers to measure your strength."

'_That would be expected_.' Samuel thought at her words. Some of the delivery services in Academy City needed espers who could handle taking on rogue espers who would want to rob them of their packages, which include cash, rare items or even the latest experimental technology around. There were also cases where other espers were hired by other groups to steal the packages containing the prototypes for their own R&D.

"Ok then, so where do I take this test?" Samuel asked. "Well.."

**"BOOM!"**

An explosion from outside suddenly rocked the café interior, causing many who were standing to fall down, and a few plates to fall off the table and break. For the group who were sitting, Index fell right out of the seat she was on, getting a face full of food in the process. The rest hit their heads or arms supporting themselves from falling.

"What the hell was that?" Touma moaned while rubbing his head. "Don't know, but I guess the explosion had something to do with that." Samuel pointed outside the window, where there was fire and smoke coming from a bank situated opposite the café.

"You guys stay here, I will check it out." Samuel said while getting up. "Wait, I'm coming too" Touma said while getting up himself. "Touma, what makes you think you can...?!" Index attempted to stop him, but Touma merely picked her up and threw her towards Seria. "Sorry, senpai, but can you take care of her?" Touma did not wait for a reply as he followed Samuel out. "Wait you guys, I'm coming along!" Mikoto shouted, running after them.

Samuel and Touma rushed out of the café, followed by Mikoto, to find that the bank had its door blown open, with fire and smoke bellowing out. As they watched, several people dressed in dark clothes and ski masks ran out of the building towards a van waiting outside. Evidently they were espers robbing the bank, as they were running, one of them lifted his arms and smoke started to appear around the group. It would seem that they were planning to get away in the smoke.

"Right then, shall we go and stop them?" Samuel asked as the trio started running again towards the group. "No problem with that" Mikoto gave off some electricity as she looked at the robbers. "Let's go and clear the smoke,_ shall we_!" Mikoto sent a huge lightning bolt at the smoke, creating a mini explosion that blew the smoke away, revealing the shocked faces of the espers that were getting away. One of them raised his hand and ice shards started forming at his hand. But before he could throw them, Touma caught up and slammed his right fist at his hand. With a sound of shattering glass, the ice broke and without stopping, his fist went towards the esper's face and knocked him over.

After that, it was an all-out brawl with the robbers. Samuel and Touma managed to lay a few punches and kicks at some of the robbers, thus knocking them out. Mikoto simply blasted lightning at them, sending them flying all over the place.

"Damn you guys!" a guy with a hoodie cursed as he got out of the way. "Kyaa!" The guy turned to see two girls fallen on the ground nearby; evidently they did not get away in time. He sneered and raised his hand, fire gathering at his palm. "Let's see you guys stop this!" With that shout, he let loose the fireball at the girls.

"Darn it, I'm not going to make it!" Touma thought as he ran his hardest, but could see the fireball reaching the 2 girls fast. The girls must have thought it was the end, as they hugged each other and closed their eyes, just as the fireball reached them.

"Boom!" The fireball exploded and a resounding roar reverberated in the street as the smoke bellowed from where the girls were. Touma could only stare at the spot where they were, when he heard laughter coming behind him. Feeling the rage build up in him, Touma turned to see the pyrokinesist laughing his head off. _'Oh, that's it'_ Touma clenched his right fist as he made his way towards that guy. _'He's going to pay for this!'_

_"Huh?"_ The pyrokinesist let out a sound of uncertainty as he looked at where he fired the projectile, making Touma stopped briefly and his anger level lowered. Everyone else turned to see what got him puzzled and got a surprise themselves, as the smoke cleared to reveal a wall had risen from the ground, thus shielding the girls from the fireball. Before anyone could react, another rumble came from the ground and suddenly pillars started shooting out of the ground, disrupting what little coordination the robbers had and effectively blocked their way of escape.

Touma and Mikoto were surprised at this blatant display of power. Who the hell managed to save the girls and completely got those guys trapped? Touma looked around and found his answer: Samuel was kneeling on the ground, with his palms touching the ground and concentrating as he monitored the situation.

_"Was it DanQuein-san who did this?"_ Touma thought as he went to deal with those within his reach. He was thankful for him saving them, but he wondered: What type of ability was that, and why did it felt _familiar?_

* * *

_"Man that was a little close for comfort!"_ Samuel thought as he watched the espers panicking while avoiding the pillars that were springing up from the ground. When he saw the pyrokinesist raising his hand towards the bystanders, he only had seconds to think of a way to block the attack and implement it. He brought his palms together and closed his eyes briefly to concentrate.

**_Image the defense._**

Samuel mentally said this mantra as he decided on his attack. This was his method of using his abilities, before he gained enough control over it. He still used his old style occasionally due to constraints in timing and that he felt more comfortable doing it in a manner that could be more efficient. Now was a good time to do that.

**_Shape it, Construct it, and Implement it._**

**_Bring an object to existence and give it purpose._**

At that point, Samuel slammed his hands onto the ground and called out his powers to create a wall to stop the fireball in its tracks. After which he quickly imaged an attack that could stop the espers from escaping to their vehicle while containing them in one spot. Once that was done, the electro-master should be able to take them out without a problem. Simple, right?

A loud crack bought his attention to the small pillar prison where one of the bigger espers was being trapped in. There was a huge crack running off the sides and it was widening ever so slowly with a resounding pounding every time.

With a loud yell, that esper broke out of the prison, sending bits of cement showering everywhere. The espers who were not caught cheered at the sight of him walking up to them confidently.

"Hah! You can't stop me! Don't you know who I am? I am the Level 3 'Metallica'! Nothing can stop me once I have my armor on!" The guy said as he raised his arms in the air, activating his ability in the process. As Touma and the others watched, Metallica's body started changing in looks and texture. Samuel quickly called up another set of pillars to attack him, but Metallica just stood there and took it. After the dust settled, what used to be skin on the body had now transformed to that of polished steel.

"You can't hurt me! My power allows me to create armor that can take on a tank!" Metallica boasted as he went to a wrecked scooter. "And also I can do _this_!" He lifted the scooter and threw it directly at Samuel, who ducked to the side in time for the scooter to fly past him and hit the nearby fire hydrant, breaking it and sending a jet of water in the air, flooding the area slightly.

_'This is going to be a problem'_ Samuel thought grimly as he looked at the guy as he walked slowly to emphasise his confidence of winning. Samuel needed some sort of distraction in order to get up close and personal with 'Metallica', as he called him. As he thought of a plan, Samuel noted his hands were getting wet. Looking down, he noted that the water from the spewing fire hydrant had flowed all the way and towards Metallica. Samuel thought for a while before turning his head to Mikoto.

"Yo, I got an idea, thin you can hit him with something powerful?" Samuel shouted at her while bring his hands together. He was going to use another aspect of his ability and needed her electric attacks for one really big move.

**_Construction and Deconstruction Start._**

After imaging his thoughts, he slammed his fists to the wet ground, which started giving off some static before ice started to form the surface. Within seconds, ice spikes started growing and went straight for Metallica. Metallica saw the attack but continued walking, believing that it would not harm him.

That was his mistake as ice started covering his feet and covered his legs, thus immobilizing him. As Metallica tried to break the ice, Samuel once more brought his hands to another wet patch of ground, where it started steaming. "Now!" That was the cue needed for Mikoto to fire one of the bigger lightning bolts at Metallica, who raised his arms to protect his face. As the lightning bolt got closer, sparks started to appear in the air, then the entire area lit up and a double explosion rocked the entire street, sending everyone flying to the ground.

"Well, that ought to do it right?" Samuel coughed as he tried to get up. Considering the fellow's armor, he would probably be able to handle some major attacks. So Samuel decided to immobilize him with the ice, before getting Mikoto to fire off her electricity. For good measure, he decided to break down the water to its basic components: oxygen and hydrogen. Combined with the sparks generated from the electricity, that equate to one really big explosion and one lightning bolt to attack that guy.

One thing about hydrogen explosions though, they were a little too volatile for his own taste. As he stood up, an arm suddenly shot out from the smoke, grabbing his neck and lifting him in the air. _"That hurt, bastard."_ The smoke cleared to reveal Metallica, with his armor charred black and a patch on his abdomen where the lightning attack had hit him.

"Crap!" Touma swore as he saw Samuel being held up by Metallica, and got up to face him, followed by Mikoto. "Ah, Ah, Ah!" Metallica wagged his finger at them. "Don't even think of attacking if you want your friend in one piece" Touma and Mikoto stopped, expressions of stress and rage evident on their faces.

"So what are you guys going to do? If you are wise, I suggest you two back off now if you know what's good for your friend" Metallica smirked at Touma and Mikoto while holding up Samuel. The two of them were unsure of what to do. If they did not do as he said, Samuel would get hurt. But if they followed what he said, the rest of the robbers would get away.

"Guys, don't need to worry about me. I will deal with him, just go after the rest." All three of them turned to look at Samuel, who oddly enough was looking really bored, like this happened to him all the time. "Ha! You sure about that pal?" Metallica sneered as he applied more pressure on Samuel's neck, causing him to wince and gasped slightly. Touma and Mikoto shouted and stepped forward, only to stop when Metallica held up his palm to motion to them to stop.

Despite the pain that was evident, Samuel maintained his composure as he turned his head again to Touma. "You guys go and stop those guys from running, I got this, ok?" "But DanQuein-san.." Touma stammered while Mikoto had one hand out giving off electricity at her fingertips. It was clear they were reluctant to leave him.

"Guys, I told you, _I got this_." He was calm when he said it, but the tone that was used sent chills down Touma's and Mikoto's spines. Instinctively they knew, Samuel was about to get really serious against Metallica. Touma grabbed Mikoto's hand and, with one last nod of confirmation, ran to the remaining robbers who were getting away,

"Hey, don't you guys care for him?!" Metallica shouted, annoyed that those guys were not staying put as he wanted them to be. "Seriously dude, that would be the least of your worries." Metallica turned his head to look at Samuel, who continued to be unusually composed. "Hmm, big talk for a guy whose neck is about to get crushed" Metallica snarled, bothered that Samuel was not feeling fear as he wanted him to.

"Oh, it's not me you have to worry about" Samuel replied as he looked at Metallica, whose face started showing uneasiness at the calmness Samuel was displaying. "In fact, you might want to start worrying about **yourself** instead."

"Oh and why is that?" Metallica clearly tried to sound confident, but was failing miserably in the face of such cold serenity in front of him. He did not know why, but Metallica was starting to get chills down his spine from the cold gaze from Samuel's eyes; it was like he was getting stared down by a killer as he contemplated on his options of cutting him up or to leave him bleeding to death. He wondered if taking Samuel hostage was the wise decision.

"You ask why?" Samuel said while bringing up his hands above Metallica's arm. "_This is why_" Samuel clapped his hands once again before slamming the palms on the arm he was held by.

**_Analysis Start._**

Metallica eyes went wide when red glowing lines started spreading from the areas Samuel laid his hands on. He panicked and started hitting Samuel, hoping to make him stop. "Let go of me, damn it" When that did not work, he raised that arm and threw him as hard as possible and away from him. Samuel flew in the air briefly before doing a flip to land on his legs, looking up as he did.

"Analysis complete, begin recomposing basic elements for closest alternative" Samuel muttered while placing hands together again. He did not like of what he was going to do next, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Damn you bastard!" Metallica yelled as he rushed towards Samuel, with his right fist raised. In response, Samuel raised his left and started running towards him. They swung their fists at the same time, both reaching their opponent's face..

Then Metallica found himself flying in the air backwards, before hitting the wall across the street, leaving behind a small crater in it as he slid down its face. He got up unsteadily before falling to his knees again, this time coughing up blood as he looked at Samuel angrily. That was to be expected; the right side of his face that was once flawless now showed big cracks alongside it, with blood issuing out of them.

"You bastard, what did you do?!" Metallica demanded as he tried to get back on his feet. In response, Samuel lifted his left arm and pulled back the sleeve, to reveal his arm had changed to a dark color that oddly enough was sparkling in the sun.

"Firstly you are not the only one who can change his body composition to resemble armor." Samuel commented as he watched the guy barely getting up properly. It seemed like Metallica's ability only gave him protection against basic attacks, but cannot withstand those of higher levels. "Secondly, your armor is decent, but it's not the hardest material around. Here's a hint: the main ingredient for the strongest material can be found almost anywhere on earth, even in us" Metallica looked puzzled at his statement. "The mystery ingredient is carbon and the hardest material that could penetrate that armor of yours" Samuel paused before saying "That would be diamonds"

Metallica's eyes went wide at the implication, and went even wider as Samuel right hand started to take on the same color and texture as his left. Samuel casually removed his jacket to reveal that both arms now had the same diamond armor capable of taking him on.

"Now that we got that out of the way" Samuel slammed his fists together, producing sparks from the impact, and gave a feral grin that made Metallica stepped back in fear. Looks like Metallica finally got the idea that he was going to be in a world of hurt.

**_"Let's dance"_**

* * *

"Oui! Watch out!" Mikoto shouted at Touma as she blasted two espers to the ground. Touma cursed as he barely dodged in time a punch from one of the espers, before giving him a right hook that sent him sprawling on the ground.

Touma was thinking about Samuel and his claims that he got the situation under control. It was not like he was not worried about him getting hurt, what made him distracted was the feeling he got from him as he prepared to take on Metallica. It reminded him a little too much of the people he had gone against, like Accelerator and Aqua of the Back. These people either had a confidence or the ruthlessness to take down anyone in their way. If he had to describe them, Accelerator would be a Great White Shark with extra armoring, and Aqua would be a noble dragon. But Samuel gave the feeling of a viper that was waiting for his opponent to make a mistake before striking. Touma found himself praying for Samuel's _and_ Metallica's safety.

Touma's thoughts got interrupted by a loud thud. "Well, that's the last of them." Mikoto commented as she looked around. The ones trapped by the pillars had nowhere to go, and the rest were knocked out all over the ground. All that was left was Metallica. "We better go and help DanQuein-san" Touma said while turning to run to him. He hoped that Samuel was able to hold him off long enough for them to come and help him.

Touma's worries were averted when a body flew past him and slammed into the getaway vehicle, nearly tilting it over and breaking the wind shields in the process. Touma and Mikoto turned to see Metallica's unconscious body sprawled on the hood. He was in a sorry state; his entire body was covered in bruises and he was bleeding at his head and hands. This was such a change from the guy who was walking around in armor and boasting of his supposed invincibility.

"Seriously, is that all?" A familiar voice made Touma and Mikoto turn around to see Samuel walking towards them while scratching his head with one hand and holding his jacket in the other. Apart from the angry mark on his neck, he was relatively untouched. The clothes he had on were damaged, showing off a rather impressive six pack and strangely enough, a scar on his left side. His arms were also unusual; the skin seemed to have been turned into something dark and shiny.

"I was hoping to try out a few more moves, but it seems you are too beat up to tango with me" Samuel said while looking at Metallica. Turning to Touma and Mikoto who was blushing from his oblivious exposure of his physique, he asked: "So are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we are fine" Touma replied while pointing at Samuel's arms. "So what's up with your arms?" "Oh this? I just copied that fellow and created some basic armor for my arms." Samuel deactivated his ability, turning his arms back to normal, but revealing a few cuts on his arms. "Great, this is why I hate doing this method" Samuel frowned at the state his arms were in.

"We should get someone to see that." Mikoto said, regaining enough composure to speak despite her embarrassment of seeing his body. "No need" Samuel held out his arms for them to see. To their surprise, the cuts started to heal and close up, soon revealing no injuries on his arms.

Samuel smiled at their expressions and asked: "So then, who do we call for clean-up?"

* * *

"So how did you do that?" Mikoto asked Samuel after Anti-Skill came to arrest the esper robbers. There was a bit of commotion earlier when a twin tailed girl appeared out of nowhere and kicked Touma in the head, before diving towards Mikoto to cling to her tightly and make some rather disturbing noises. It took a giant electric shock to knock her out before she (reluctantly) left the area to escort the espers to the detention centre. After she left, the others went back to the café, where Samuel went to change into a fresh set of clothes he brought along.

"Do what?" Samuel asked back while helping himself to a sandwich from the café. It seemed that their act of heroism won over the café owner and saw to it to give them a feast to enjoy. Well, a feast that was being solely demolished by Index, who was drawing quite a fair bit of attention from the customers near them. _Honestly, how much could she eat?!_ Because of that, the others lost most of their appetite and settled for small dishes and snacks.

"What you did earlier." Mikoto replied back, setting down her cup of tea. "You first created that wall, then those pillars, and then you replicated that guy's ability to create armor on yourself. Not to mention that healing ability, the freezing of water and that odd explosion which I know is your doing. I have never seen any esper who can have such a wide variety of abilities" Not anyone legally at least, thought Mikoto, as she remembered a certain scientist who used the Level Upper Network to utilize the abilities of other Espers. Among the Level 5s, the closest to having multiple abilities were Kakine and Accelerator. Even then theirs, like hers, were considered extensions of the base power, not totally separate. Samuel was the first person who seemed to display qualities that would qualify for a Dual-Skill.

"Would you believe me if I told you I have _no idea_ what my power was?" Samuel smiled tiredly at the expressions Mikoto and Touma had on their faces. "Apart from the fact I am a Level 4, I don't know too much about my power. What I do know is that I can create different objects, and change the molecular structure and elements to suit my needs. Some of the weird quirks I have with this ability include the healing factor; I can recover from small bruises to severe bone fractures in a manner of minutes, at most a day for the most extreme cases like complete dislocation of limbs." Samuel shuddered at that part, remembering the last time that happened.

"Whoa, that's quite an ability you have there." Touma remarked while taking a bite of the steak he got. He seemed to be rushing through the meal he had, but considering that Index was finishing the feast set by the chef, and was now eying the steak, he figured he better finish it before she came to claim it.

"Those were merely sub-abilities I do know, I have others which I do not know too much about apart from their usage and major differences, and as for my true ability." Samuel shrugged "I absolutely know zit about it." Mikoto nodded in agreement to that statement, remembering another Esper with the same problem. Sogiita Gunha, the seventh Level 5, had the same issue where he knew how to use his powers, but he does not know how the abilities actually works, thus giving random and totally insane explanations about his powers that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"Guess that got the researchers a bit puzzled, hmm?" Seria commented while drinking her tea. Considering there was an explosion and a fight between espers, she was unusually calm and elegant about it. Samuel felt something was off about her, but decided to ignore it for now.

"Yeah, they were a little confused in trying to classify my ability." Samuel remembered fondly of the first time the scientists studied his power. It was somewhat humorous to see them scratching their heads and occasionally throw their sheets in the air when he displayed another aspect of his abilities that did not conform to much of the standard abilities. At first he started out as a Level 2, but after all those years trying to discern his power, they gave up and just presented him a Level 4 status, while occasionally asking him to drop by the lab to try and figure out his ability. "In the end, I ended up giving my sub abilities the names which they are associated, as for my main ability, well that remains to be seen."

'Well, officially' Samuel thought privately. Quite honestly, there was one person who had helped him in naming some of his abilities. He met that person at a hospital during a routine check-up a couple of years back, and after hearing his comments and remembering his past, he decided to go with the naming.

"That reminds me, Miss Seria" Samuel turned to Seria. "What about my test against the espers for my job?" Samuel hoped that he could get that over and done with; he already spent quite a fair bit of time with the earlier mess and he had to complete the restoration job soon.

"Oh that, don't need to bother." Seria smiled at the expression on his face. "Having seen that performance you gave, I already confirmed your strength, so I have called my friend that you passed the test. You would be able to start working real soon."

'_Yes, I finally got the job!_' Samuel clenched his fists in happiness and teary eyes as he thought about it. The others all smiled at his reaction, though Touma's was a little strained. Guess he would still be unlucky.

"Well then, for a victory celebration, what say you and I have a little duel?" Mikoto gave a challenging smile as she asked Samuel. It was not every day that she could find anyone who had the strength to go against her. Apart from Level 5s and Touma, the most she ever gone against were Skill Outs and lower level espers who were either too confident with their strengths and abused their powers, or jealous of the Level 5s and wanted to go against them.

"That's not a bad idea" _Huh?_ Everyone turned to look at Seria, who was regarding Samuel and Mikoto thoughtfully. "How about a little match then, to see your abilities?" Seria said with that trademark smile of hers. "She is one of the strongest electro-master around. If you can go against this girl and win, I'm sure you will have no problems whatsoever on your job."

**"WHAT!"** The café windows shook at the sounds of people shouting at the top of their voices.

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

Well there you have it. Thank you for being patient with me. This was a chapter that took me quite a fair bit of editing before I could upload it.

Think you guys can more or less guess the manner of which Samuel uses his abilities, right? I will say this: I do have thoughts for a second volume (if I ever get around to do it) and I will build on it.

Coming up is the fight between Misaka and Samuel. Most likely I would split it into 2 chapters, to build up on the abilities and to build up what makes Samuel who he is. I am planning to put in 1 small bit that would no doubt makes you guys think of another certain parody.

P.S.

1. I have dropped 2 hints in this chapter about his powers, can you guess them before I put up the fight?

2. Starting from the next chapter, I would upload it in parts like Baka Tsuki, easier for me and you.

3. I would be uploading a little later because of projects and assignments coming up.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and hope I can bring out a new chapter soon. See you!


	8. Chapter 5: Misaka vs Samuel Part 1

**Author's Notes:**

**Hey guys, in case you did not read the small note on the previous chapter, I have decided to release the chapter in parts in a manner similar to Baka-Tsuki, so that it would be easier for both of us. **

**This chapter is the first part of the fight between Misaka and Samuel. Hope I can get it out right. But if you have suggestions, I would read what you have and see if it can be worked into the story.**

**Will try to update as soon as possible!**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

Part 1  


Shirai Kuroko was furious.

When she arrived at the scene to arrest the robbers attacking the bank, she was overjoyed to see her Onee-sama there, but also horrified to see _that ape_ standing next to her so naturally. After that brief exchange and slight shocking from her, Shirari was forced to accompany the robbers to the detention centre, before heading back to the paper work.

_If that ape did anything to her Onee-sama while she was doing this bloody paperwork, she swore she was going to make his life miserable!_

_"Shirai-san!"_ Her head got hit hard by an attendance file. Rubbing her head, Kuroko turned her head to find her senior, Konori Mii, frowning at her. "Why did you hit me?" Kuroko asked while wincing from the pain.

"You did not reply me the five times I called out to you" Konori sighed as she rubbed her head with her fingers. "I was saying that you may have to stay back a little longer to deal with the robbers and the paperwork from the other cases"

Kuroko could only gape at her as she took in the information. Technically, it was not a problem of her having to stay back in the office to deal with work; she had been doing it all these time. The problem came from the Dorm Supervisor. She had been checking on both her and Mikoto for quite some time now, and they were dangerously close to losing their merit points despite the (few) good reasons they gave to her. Kuroko shuddered at the idea of the Dorm Supervisor administering her strict punishments on them; she was (unofficially) the strongest Level 0 enforcer of Tokiwadai, who could make even the two Level 5s tremble in fear.

There was only one way to avoid the punishment, she would need to call Mikoto to ask her to tell the Dorm Supervisor about her situation. She did not want to bother Mikoto in this manner, but anything was better than having the Dorm Supervisor using her 'discipline' on her. She grabbed the phone in her pocket and hit the speed dial.

After 5 rings, the call connected. "Hello?" The voice of her beloved Onee-sama got through to her phone. "Ah, _Onee-Sama_. This is your _favorite_ friend, Shirai Kuroko." She said with emphasis on the word 'favorite'. "I have some Judgment work to deal with, so I won't be able to return to the dorm. Can you pass that on to that annoying dorm supervisor?"

There was a slight pause on the phone for Mikoto to digest all that information, before she responded: "Actually, I may end up being late myself, I got a little thing I need to handle, not to mention I have found someone who could give me a good match." At this point, Kuroko could hear a bit of dark chuckling and could swear she felt some odd energy coming through. "So I'm afraid I cannot help you on that part. See you." With that, Mikoto hung up the call.

Kuroko stared at her phone in disbelief. Who could it be that could get her interest to fight? No, it can't be that ape! How dare he use this chance to get to her?!

"Erm, Shirari-san, is everything okay?" Uiharu asked timidly at the odd reaction Kuroko was giving. "No, it's not! Damn it, I will give that ape credit for using her interest in fighting to his advantage! He is planning to do something to her body as his prize for sure" Kuroko trembled with extreme anger at the thought of that man who twisted Onee-sama's interest in him and use it for his own tastes.

"Shirai-san, I don't think that's the case." Uiharu was slightly disturbed at the imagination that Kuroko was possessing. Her words fell on deaf ears as Kuroko's mind was going into overdrive as the thought of Mikoto fighting Touma.

* * *

_"Fufu, looks I win this match" said Touma, represented as a man with horns on his head and leering over Mikoto sprawled on the ground_

_"No, I won't admit defeat" Mikoto, represented as a frail girl with tears in her eyes._

_"Not that it matters, because I will be taking my prize." Touma said as he stretched out his hands towards her._

_"Nooo!_

* * *

"Gah! I must protect Onee-Sama's chastity at all costs!" Kuroko bellowed as she turned to face the door. "Oh no you don't." Konori said while massaging her head. "You have all those paperwork to handle." "And also the backlog from the recent back-alley attacks." Uiharu pointed out the table next to theirs, with 3 stacks or folders and paper covering the desk.

"I don't have time for this!" Kuroko screamed as she flipped the table, sending all the paperwork flying everywhere. "Kyaa! Shirai-san is going nuts!" Uiharu went to grab one shoulder while Konori grabbed the other in order to properly restrain her. Kuroko struggled but was eventually subdued to the ground.

**"DAMN YOU APE!"**

* * *

Part 2  


On the other side of the district, Touma felt a sudden chill run down his spine, making him look around for the source. It felt like he was the target of some mistaken prejudice.

"What's up, you looked like you just seen a ghost?" Touma's thoughts were thankfully interrupted by Samuel, who raised an eyebrow at his reaction. "No, it was nothing, just my imagination" Touma scratched his head while assuring Samuel. Guess he was a little tensed from the situation he was headed to, after hearing Kumokawa Seria's proposal of having Samuel fight Mikoto.

* * *

_"Flashback"_

_"DanQuein-san" Touma tapped Samuel's shoulder as they walked out of the café. They were lucky to get out of the café, not because of the admiration customers were showering on them or the requests for photos and autographs, but rather the fact that Index had nearly wiped out the entire pantry of the café again. Touma was glad that they left without him having to pay for the expenses or ended up being banned to return to this place._

_"Hmm?" Samuel turned around to look at Touma. "The thing is, are you sure you want to do this?" Touma asked him carefully. "Well, if your senior wants to evaluate my strength against Miss Misaka, I will just have to do it." Samuel shrugged as he gave his response. "Besides, this seems a good way of training against an electro-master. I fought a few before, but if Miss Seria said she is one of the strongest around, I guess I would need to pull out the stops to deal with her." Samuel said while clenching his fist and giving a challenging smile._

_"Yeah, but do you know who Misaka is?" Touma asked tentatively, a suspicion he had going on in his head for a while. "Hmm, a Tokiwadai electro-master?" Samuel just gave that reply._

_"Erm, Samuel, do you **really not know** who she is?" Touma really wished Samuel knew who Mikoto was, and was just pulling his leg._

_"A Tokiwadai Middle School girl who is short-tempered, does not like being called Biri Biri and a really strong electro-master?" Samuel said that with a tilt of his head. Touma had to resist face-palming at this point; it would seem that Samuel really did not know who he was taking on._

_But before Touma could warn him, a hand came between the two guys, followed by a voice. "Now now, Kamijou-kun. You should not tell him about that just yet" The Beauty Senpai said with that trademark smile. "Although, out of curiosity, DanQuein-san." She turned towards Samuel as they continued walking, "You said you have only been in Academy City for a few years, right? Then do you know about the Level 5s?" At this point, Seria gave a rather teasing smirk that Touma was a little wary of._

_Sadly, Samuel did not seem to notice, as he crossed his arms and gave a pondering look. "About them, I only know their Esper names and a little of their powers. Let's see" He held out his hand and started using his fingers to count down the names. "There's Accelerator of Vector Change, Dark Matter, Railgun aka Electric Princess, Meltdowner, Mental Out, and Attack Crash. The sixth Level 5 is not known yet."_

_"And of those you listed out, what do you know about the ones from Tokiwadai?" Seria was so enjoying toying with the both of them, even if one does not understand where she going at._

_"Hmm, from what I heard, the Railgun and Mental Out control 2 sides of Tokiwadai." Samuel mused while sidestepping a lamppost. "While Mental Out controls the biggest part of Tokiwadai, the Railgun is often called out for any events showcasing Academy City, supposedly for the fact she is considered to be the sanest of the Level 5s." Touma nearly snorted at that statement, thinking back to the times Mikoto kept attacking him with lightning and making him play "catch the railgun". Not exactly sane material to him. "Still, I did not see any of the promotional material, but if I have to guess her general appearance based on what I heard" Samuel tried imagining the appearance. "She would probably be a typical noble girl with long brown hair past her shoulders, tall, and perhaps a little bit on the shy side."_

_Touma was really resisting the temptation of face-palming or tripping on his feet upon hearing Samuel's description. Seriously, if Mikoto ever heard that, she would laugh herself to the ground or be angered that the description was so off._

_"Hmm-Hmm, well I supposed you may not know their real names." Seria maintained her mischievous smirk as she turned her head to watch her path. "But I think you will get a chance to meet her sooner or later."_

_"Really?" Samuel said with a raised eyebrow._

_"Yes, I think so." She replied back before giving him a wink. Touma honestly prayed for Samuel's safety and hoped that Mikoto would take it easy on him. He did not feel like having to go against Mikoto in the process of saving him._

_"End Flashback"_

* * *

"Hello, Earth to Touma. Anyone there?" Touma's thoughts got interrupted again by Samuel, who was waving his hand in front of him. "Seriously dude, I think you need to see a doctor or something if you keep on spacing out like that." Samuel joked as he shook his head. "Ah, sorry about that, DanQuein-san" Touma said it while scratching his head. He **really** had to stop doing that, otherwise things would get complicated.

"Call me Samuel." He replied back to him. "After all this time, I'm still not used to the Japanese way of addressing others with 'san'" Samuel said that with a rather sheepish look. Admittedly, he had learned enough Japanese to converse since he came to Academy City, but all the honorifics and mannerisms that came with was a little much for a guy who used to hail from Western Culture.

"By the way, Touma, mind if I ask a question?" Samuel gave a frown as he looked at Touma and Index. "I may not have been in Academy City as long as most of the residents here, but I am pretty sure there aren't any churches here. So why is she dressed in that attire?" He pointed to Index as he put out that question. Touma sweated slightly at his expression. Not many people knew about Index being an outsider to Academy City for good reason, what with her 103,000 grimories that would make her an ideal target for any magicians seeking more power.

"Index is a nun from one of the churches back in England." Touma made up an answer quickly. "She came to visit Academy City for a while, just to see what it looks like" It was a little bit of a stretch, but Samuel seemed to buy it, as he turned to face Index "So then Index, is Academy City to your taste?"

"Erm, it is really confusing, what with all these shiny things and big vehicles and other things." Index tilted her head while crossing her arms. "But I do like the food and those box things that can drop food on your laps at the push of a button!" Index said that with glittering eyes and saliva threatening to drool down her mouth. Samuel raised his eyebrow at Touma, who responded with a shake of his head and a hand on his forehead. He was not going to bother explaining about Index's fascination with food.

"But still, I am a little angry at you people." Index said with a slight glare as they waited at the cross junction for the traffic lights to change. "You guys seemed to have forgotten who it was that gave all this"

"Oh, and who would that be?" Samuel asked, though from the looks that Touma was giving, he guessed he knew the answer. "The Lord of course, I mean, how is it you people can have your powers and your odd flying things and all the food coming from everywhere?" Index pouted at the looks that Samuel and Touma were giving her.

"Think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in this city who still believes in God. After all, pretty much everything can be explained with science" Samuel mused watching Index pout. "But it is only with His Blessings, that many can continue living with blessed lives. It was also his choosing to grant you your abilities" Index continued her rant about Espers not caring for her Lord, not noticing how the amused expression on Samuel's face was slowly being replaced with a grim look. "How about you, don't _you_ believe in the Lord?" Index directed that question back at him.

"Don't take offense,_ 'sister'_, but I don't really believe in the Lord or any type of Gods for that matter." Samuel said that with a forbidding look and a somewhat stony tone. "Because no God would go around ignoring those who are in need of salvation, while letting the wicked go around unpunished. They don't go around telling their followers to start wars with others, just so they can spread their beliefs." Samuel turned to continue walking to their destination, his face growing even grimmer at the next few words that he uttered out. _"And no God would let someone innocent die in front of another in a manner that would haunt them in their sleep for years to come."_

Touma flinched at the sudden coldness appearing in Samuel's words. It would seem that Samuel had something in his past that was particularly painful and somewhat horrendous if it could disrupt one sleep. He was not too sure what it was, but if something that bad did happened, he would not be too surprised that it would make one doubt religion.

Touma could see his little friend wanting to talk more and placed a hand on Index's shoulder, shaking his head gently to tell her to let off. If there was one thing he learned, people deserved to hang on to some secrets about their past.

* * *

It was 5 minutes past two pm when the group finally got to their destination: an empty stretch of river bank, located roughly 3km away from the nearest suspension bridge and at least a couple of miles from the nearest buildings. Samuel gave the suggestion of choosing an area where they could afford to go a little crazy without causing any damage for the surrounding structures.

"Now that we are here, why don't I go over the rules for you two?" Seria smiled at the two combatants. "You will not use any lethal attacks that would send one to the hospital. You will not go out of this area nor will you use your powers to the point of destroying any of the nearby structures, are we clear?"

"Just to clarify, I am to try and subdue her right?" Samuel pointed his thumb at Mikoto while asking. "That is correct; you just need to show me you can handle someone of her caliber." Seria gave that reply. "Is that all?" Samuel nodded to confirm her question.

"So then, shall we get started?" Mikoto said, turning to face Samuel with a rather feral smile on her face. She had every reason to look forward to this fight; from the little she had seen, Samuel had the strength that could handle most espers around, and based on what she had overheard on the way, Samuel had no idea that she was the Level 5 he had talked about. This was good, since most who had heard her title often peed their pants and run away, or scoff at her and try to attack her for recognition. Samuel however did not seem to know about the Level 5s much, so he may not hold back as much as expected even if he was facing a girl from Tokiwadai.

"Whenever you are ready, Misaka" Samuel replied back coolly. In contrast to Mikoto's tight tension, Samuel's posture was anything but that. With his hands in his pockets and his loose standing posture, Samuel was wide open to attacks from all directions. That being said, the way he was portraying himself was setting off alarms in Mikoto's and Touma's heads. Instinctively, they felt that he was purposely doing this to try and incite Mikoto into attacking him.

'Well then' Mikoto thought as electricity started to sputter off her body. 'If that's the way he wants it' Mikoto raised her left hand, concentrating all the energy there, **_'SO BE IT!'_** and fired off a large bolt of lightning dead on at Samuel. Just before the lightning reached Samuel, the ground rumbled and split, giving rise to an iron pole that intercepted the lightning bolt. It was the same trick that he used earlier to help Touma, only this time it seemed he was going to use it for something else. He pulled it from the ground and started twirling it with one hand, before using his other hand to beckon Mikoto.

She responded by sending more lightning bolts at him, but all got intercepted by more iron poles that he called up from the ground. Next she decided to fire off a shot from the side to catch him off guard. At this point, Samuel clapped his hands together with the pole in between, before spinning it fast enough to kick up some of the dirt on the ground. The pole started glowing with the ends being the brightest, before it changed shape just as the lightning struck it.

The area where Samuel was standing, exploded with a loud clap of thunder, sending dust everywhere. Mikoto stood there watching as she waited for the dust to clear. She was not too sure, but she doubted that attack was able to reach Samuel.

Her doubts were confirmed as the sound of something swung was accompanied with dust suddenly being parted, revealing Samuel to be untouched, and the iron pole he had in his hands, had changed into something shorter and with heavily padded ends. It would seem he changed it into something that could insulate himself from the lightning attacks that she gave off, while providing himself a method of going close quarters with her.

Mikoto gave a smirk of satisfaction as she thought of her next move. Yes, she was not winning yet, but she was right in thinking Samuel could give her a challenge. Apart from that idiot, most would not try going at her head on without fear of electrocution.

'Let's try this then' Mikoto thought while opening her right palm at the ground. Electricity sprung at her fingertips and hit the ground, where something dark started coming out of the ground and swirled around in the air. Samuel eyebrows twitched at the sight of it, before going up as the black stuff got sent flying towards him.

Samuel thoughts of intercepting were getting overridden by his instincts to duck for cover, and for good reason; as the black stuff went past one of the iron poles stuck in the ground, there was an odd sawing sound, then with a thud, the top section dropped to the ground.

'Shit, iron sand?!' Samuel cursed as he ducked in time to avoid the stream aimed for his head, his weapon not so lucky as he threw it in front to halt the stream for a few seconds, making it fall into pieces.

"Right then, DanQuein-san" Mikoto grinned at Samuel's serious expression as she pumped more power into the ground, calling up more iron sand from the ground. It was quite a sight, seeing the black stuff swirl around while electricity was dancing all around her.

**"Shall we ramp it up a little?"**

* * *

_'Right then, what to do next?'_ Samuel thought as he nimbly sidestepped to avoid a rush of iron sand aimed for his head. Although they had agreed to use non-lethal methods, he had a feeling that was not going to happen, so it was a good thing he chose a spot that had the right materials for him to create the iron poles to block her attacks. That said, if he was planning to subdue her, what was the best course of action?

Just then, a stray bolt of electricity got through his defenses and went straight at him, prompting Samuel to lift his hands and block the attack with a simple application of his ability to create the same armor from earlier. Mikoto gave a triumph smile at the sight of Samuel actively blocking with his hands for the first time.

Samuel did not notice that, he was pondering of the smell that came and go after that attack. It took a second to recognize it, before an idea popped into his head.

_'Okay, let's try that idea out'_ Samuel thought as he applied more pressure on his legs and propel himself forward. This was going to be good.

* * *

Index looked on at the fight that was escalating with a frown. It is not like she was worried about Mikoto in any way. She hated to admit it, but she seemed pretty strong if she could handle herself against some of the magicians out there and even a Valkyrie.

No, the frown came from watching Samuel as he nimbly dodged attacks while taking a swing at Mikoto every so often. Part of it was the way Samuel blew her off with his statement of not believing in the Lord, but the bigger part of it came from seeing him use his abilities and the manner he was incorporating it in his fight.

Normally she would scoff at espers, since the idea that they could develop powers of their own through science was something she abhorred. To her, the idea of trying to achieve a form that could rival that of Gods was blasphemy.

That being said, something about Samuel's abilities felt familiar, yet foreign to her. Her head felt like it was grasping at something that was laying just beyond her reach, not to mention the fact Index was feeling the grimories started getting agitated for some reason, which was making her frown.

She was not sure when it started, but the grimories in her head started getting unusually active each time Samuel started using his abilities. The first time it happened she did not think too much, occasionally her mind needed sorting thus making the grimories in her head move around a little. But now, she could literally hear the rustling of pages in her head, like they were getting somewhat excited at Samuel.

She did not understand the feeling she was having, but she did have an idea of something. It was ludicrous, but it turned out to be true…

**_Mikoto was going to experience a very painful defeat._**

* * *

Part 3  


"Damn it, stop running and fight me already!" Mikoto snarled as she alternated between firing more lightning bolts and using her iron sand to attack Samuel. The battlefield was littered with iron poles sticking out of the ground like needles, some of which were sawed off by the iron sand, with the occasional craters near them. Despite all those attacks she threw at him for the past half hour, Samuel still continued dodging her attacks or bringing out more iron poles out of the ground to block her lightning or use them as a pole weapon, while using his hands to do something with the occasional electricity that got really close to him.

Mikoto was getting frustrated at her progress against him. Samuel did not have a scratch on him, and he has been keeping up with her attacks without breaking a sweat. She on the other hand was running low on power, her arms were getting tired, and her vision was getting blurred what with the erratic breathing and the dizziness in her head.

_Wait, dizziness?_

Mikoto's thoughts were cut short as her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground, barely stopping herself by grabbing a nearby pole. She was shocked that she actually stumbled so early at this stage. The only time she ever felt this tired was when she went to destroy the facilities creating the Sisters and fighting against Mugino Shizuri, and that was over a period of a few days, not a few minutes. So then how..

Mikoto paused while sniffing the air. She did not notice it, but there was a faint scent of something that had been in the air for a while now. She had thought that it was due to the lightning attacks hitting the poles and other surrounding areas that gave off the smell, so she ignored it. Now it was being unusually pungent to the point it stung her nose like a bad sock. It was after taking a few more sniffs and coughing fits that Mikoto realized the air was a lot thinner than normal, before recognizing the scent she smelt.

_'Ozone?! How?'_ Mikoto's thoughts got broken at the rumble that she felt on the ground. Just as she tried getting up, some of the iron poles around vanished, before several thinner version sprung up around her. "CRAP!" Mikoto cursed as she tried using her powers to magnify herself to the poles in order to propel herself out of the confined area, only to find a winding pillar coming her way with a big slab of rock.

"Wait a minute, that guy planned all this!" Bewildered, Mikoto turned to find Samuel knelling on the ground with his palms touching it. It would seem he was going to imprison her with the iron poles and the big slab acting as the roof.

**"DARN IT!"** Mikoto shouted as the slab went down on top of her with a resounding clash.

* * *

"Just as planned" Samuel let himself show a fleeting smug smirk as he gave the makeshift prison the finishing touches. He had to admit, Mikoto really made it hard for him to hold back his abilities; he had considered using some of the more destructive aspects of his abilities to handle her, but decided to go for the more 'subdued' options. Samuel let loose iron poles created from the soil to intercept her lightning attacks, then for good measure, he decided to decompose the air using his ability to create ozone, which he sped up the process by utilizing the electricity left by the attacks on the iron poles.

It then became a waiting game for the amount of ozone to increase to the point of making a person nauseous or at least faint. That took less time than expected, as Mikoto seemed really impatient and started throwing out more lightning bolts at him, thus letting him create more iron poles to gather the electricity and cutting the decomposition time by half.

It wasn't exactly a clean way of winning, but he decided the best thing he could do was aiming not _'to win'_, rather_ 'not to lose'_. He did not want to dominate over people too much, just enough to show the difference between them and hopefully discourage them to stop.

After joining the slab with the iron poles, Samuel stood up and stretched slightly. Well, that ought to be it. At least he made sure the ozone was removed in order to let Mikoto breathe properly; the last thing he needed was to get jail time for making her brain-dead.

"So, is that to your satisfaction?" Samuel turned to Seria as he dusted himself off a little. He hoped that was enough to get her approval, so that he could Mikoto out of the prison. He could tell Touma was worried for the girl, so he figured he better get her out soon.

"Oh, that is very satisfactory." Seria put up a finger as she smiled. "But I think you might want to hold off your victory dance." She pointed towards the prison. "I think she still has something to say."

_Huh?_ Before Samuel could reply, a flash of light lit up the river bank, followed by a resounding clap of thunder that forced the others to cover their ears. Samuel himself had to brace himself from getting blown off using one of the iron poles still stuck to the ground.

With a shake of the head to clear his head of the resounding ringing, Samuel turned to see the remains of his makeshift prison reduced to rumble. In the center of it, stood the slouching form of Mikoto as she gasped loudly for air.

"Oui, that was a little nasty of you to do that, huh?" Mikoto let out a raspy voice asking that question. It would seem that she expanded quite a fair amount just to break out, not that Samuel was surprised too much. The prison was not really to his standards, but the fact she managed to break out of it made it clear that she was a serious force to deal with.

"Well, considering you used that iron sand on me despite that agreement on non-lethal attacks, I figured that you can give me this much leeway." Samuel shrugged as he replied back. Mikoto gave out a rather scary chuckle as she stood upright after catching her breath.

"Yeah, guess I deserve that." Mikoto said with a smile that sent chills down Touma's spine. It had been a while since he last saw that. It was when they almost went all out on each other, and Mikoto decided to pull out all the stops to beat him. Seemed like she was going to do it again, as Mikoto raised her arms and electricity started arcing from her fingertips. "Then get ready for this, senpai!"

Samuel's eyes went wide as the iron sand rose up in spikes all around him, effectively cutting him off of any escape._ 'Is she planning to attack me from a blind spot?'_ Samuel thought as he tensed his body and looked around, waiting for her move. That was his mistake, as Samuel heard a rumble from above. He looked up and saw to absolute shock that clouds were gathering at their area, and he could feel the air buzzing with electricity. _'Oh you have got to be kidding me!'_ Samuel thought as the clouds increased in density.

"Right then, DanQuein-Senpai!" Mikoto shouted as she prepared for one of her biggest attacks. "**_Here's payback for earlier!_**" Mikoto swung her fist downwards in the direction where Samuel was trapped. Right on cue, the bolts of lightning converged on one spot, ready to be shot out of the sky, straight for Samuel.

_'Crap, looks like I have no choice!'_ Samuel brought his hands together and concentrated all his power inside him, before applying the image he had on himself, just as the lightning shot out of the cloud. This was going to be close!

**_Reinforcement of body, Start!_**

**_"Boom!"_**

That loud clap of thunder reverberated the entire area, followed by the a blast of wind that nearly knocked Index off her feet if Seria did not put out her arm and use her index finger to lightly push her forward. The shockwave sent waves of water across the river bank, splashing all over the other side. The ground cracked and threw up all the dust into the air, creating a giant mushroom cloud and making the scene more reminiscent of a nuclear bomb detonating.

Mikoto panted heavily while resting her hands on her knees. That took a fair amount of power out of her, but that ought to do it. That was at least three times the normal amount she used to take out the bank robbers, impressive considering her current condition.

Admittedly, Mikoto hoped she did not overdo it. The last thing she needed was Samuel getting seriously injured and sent to the hospital. Not exactly the best way to miss his first day at work if that injury last a month.

"_Ouch, damn that hurt, Misaka._" For a moment, Mikoto actually stopped breathing as she lifted her head in time for the dust cloud to clear and reveal an unusual sight.

On the spot where her attack hit the ground, there was 3 feet deep crater that was completely blackened from the intensity of the heat. But the thing that interested her was the black figure that stood in the center of it; the figure had his arms crossed over him to shield him from the attack and had been kneeling in order to lessen the impact from the attack.

With the sound of bones cracking, the figure lowered his arms to reveal a body completely covered in the same black and shiny material that Samuel used on his arms. With a cough, the figure opened its eyes to reveal the blue and gold moon features that everyone recognize. Mikoto could hear a gasp coming from where the others were standing, but did not bother turning to see who. She was much too shocked to even care about it.

"Okay, seriously, did you _have_ to use such a crazy amount of power?" Samuel asked as he climbed out of the crater and started to walk towards Mikoto. "I don't exactly have a spare change of clothes, so please stop doing that." He stopped a few metres from Mikoto, shaking his head as he thought about the best place to get a fresh set of clothes.

Now that the dust had settled, Mikoto and the others could see his body in all its glory. Indeed, if Samuel did not tell them about his armour ability, they would have mistaken him for a statue in a museum; his entire upper body was covered in the black armour, giving more depth to his already impressive abs muscles, making it look like it was chiselled out of black marble. Oddly enough, he had two thin lines of red going along his sides, and his blonde hair seemed to have changed its colour to an unearthly glowing green.

_"How the hell you escape that?_" Mikoto gulped audibly as she continued staring at him. Honestly, that amount of power was equivalent to at least a week's worth of energy for a household. Not much by electro-master standards, but certainly enough to send someone to the emergency room if not fried on the spot. "What the hell are you made of?!"

Samuel spread his arms out while giving a small smile. "Currently, diamonds, little girl" Slowly, the black armour started disappearing from the arms and recede back to the chest area, leaving behind red bruises on his arms where the lightning hit it, otherwise he was relatively unscathed.

"So then, Misaka" Samuel smiled at Mikoto, who regained a bit of her composure to close her mouth. "Shall we start round two?"

To her surprise, Mikoto found herself giving another feral smile despite her tiredness "Why not?"

* * *

**_===== Author's Area =====_**

So here's part 1 of Misaka vs Samuel fight!

Honestly, this took quite a while to write this part, I wanted to make sure I keep to the attack styles that Misaka has, but at the same time, want to make sure they are evenly matched for this part.

Part 2 is on its way, so watch out for it!

P.S In case you guys are interested, I have another story based on Infinite Stratos, if you guys want me to continue that, I can give it a try.

Spoiler alert:

1) "You will dance yourself to the ground, and prostrate before me."

2) Attitude spoiler: vermin / mongrel

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope I can get the new chapter out!


	9. Message & Chapter Preview

**Author's Notes:**

**Hey guys, just to let you know the chapter for the next chapter will be up soon, just have to handle university work right now. T.T**

**Meantime, here's a preview for the next few chapters ;P**

**P.S They are not in order in case you are wondering.**

* * *

"Do you know what you are doing?! You could have gotten them hurt!"

"What's your name, kid?"

"So I was right, I did let a vermin get away from me that day."

"Onee-sama, it seems we finally got some footage on the person responsible for the attacks!"

"Why do you do this? Is there no better way to do it?"

"The test subject is flourishing very well sir, but we may need to limit his exposure, lest someone finds him and tries to take him out."

"If that is what you believe, then allow me to break that bloody illusion of yours!"

"Touma, where did you meet that guy?"

"What type of power does this guy have?! There's absolutely no way he can do all that!"

"Prostrate on the ground before me, pagans!"

"The name is Samuel DanQuein, and I'm the Level 4 who's going to introduce you 20 ways of major ass-whooping!"

"This is AC News, coming to you with a special announcement."

"I made a promise to someone, and I would keep it, no matter what it takes."

"If you really believe in attacking others because you hated the way people treated you, if you believe in abusing your power because you have that right, then allow me to reject that shitty reality of yours, and substitute it with my own!"

* * *

Hope I can get the next chapter out soon. See you!

P.S If you guys got any suggestions for the fight or other chapters, you can suggest if you like.


	10. Chapter 6: Misaka vs Samuel Part 2

**Author's Notes**

**Here's a new chapter, as usual I will be posting it in parts.**

* * *

**=Chapter Start=**

Part 1  


Shirai Kuroko cursed as she nearly fell into a rubbish dump in between an alley. She wished she was able to travel further, but considering the amount of concentration needed, she was lucky if she could go 1 mile consecutively.

She was neck-deep in paperwork when a phone call came in about a fight going on at the river bank near the suspension bridge, west of District 21. Normally she would not bother about that while handling the paperwork; fights tend to happen so often between espers or Skill-Outs, many of the Judgement departments tend to relay the calls to each other so as not to be bothered about it. Sadly, theirs got involved too many times to count.

But when the caller starting talking about a thunder storm gathering there, and electrical appliances going out from the sudden surge, she immediately volunteered to visit the scene. After all, all the signs were pointing to her beloved Onee-sama fighting someone, most likely that ape, and she needed to be there to see his trashed body.

It took a fair amount of pleading (_aka. begging on her knees_) for Konorii, and a fair amount of persuasion (_aka. blackmailing_) on Uiharu, but she was finally freed from the mountain of paperwork and off to see Mikoto! And once she got to her side, she was going to shower her with her admiration! A sharp pain at her side dragged her out of her crazy thoughts and back to reality as she landed on a rooftop.

The source of the pain came from the level scanner that was attached to her waist. Apparently the strap attaching it to her belt got loosened during her jumps, making it bounce around and eventually dig the blunt corner into her side. Kuroko did not really want to bring it along since it was cumbersome, but Konorii insisted that she carried it with her. Kuroko understood its purpose, but did not see the point of having to bring it everywhere; it was pretty clear that the vigilante attacked the Skill-Outs and Esper Gangs after curfew, and disappeared almost immediately after, at times a week in between. Furthermore, the person would have to be an idiot to use his powers in the day when most of Judgement would be out patrolling with the scanners checking everyone in the area.

Still, it was the rules, and the last thing she wanted was Konorii to give her tons of paperwork and suspension that could affect her merit points from Tokiwadai. It was fine for 'normal' students if they were to get benched, but it was another thing entirely if said student hailed from the more privileged schools like Tokiwadai. They do not want to have students with a bad mark and would tend to demonstrate their anger ruthlessly. Something the Dorm Supervisor was all too eager to demonstrate.

After moving the scanner to a more padded part of her clothing, Kuroko jumped in the air and started teleporting again towards her destination. Little did she know that bringing along the scanner would help her out later in many ways unexpected.

* * *

Touma sighed as the sound of explosions intensified at the river bank. What used to be an empty patch of river bank with nice greenery 1.5 hours ago, was now reduced to a scene resembling more of a battlefield; Iron poles scattered all over the area, small cracks in the ground where Mikoto's lightning hit it, and last but not the least, the huge crater lying in the middle of the area. Considering the devastation in front of him, most would probably ask how Touma could be so calm with this situation. Technically, he wasn't, but considering all the crap he had to go through for the past few months, this was considered relatively normal.

Privately he wondered if he should run away now before this continued any further. He got the feeling that with his misfortune, he was so going to be made responsible of this mess somehow. It should be okay, since he was not really obliged to stick around for the fight.

"And where do you think you are going, Kamijou-chan?" Touma froze before turning his head slowly to see a smiling Kumokawa Seria. "I hope you are not thinking of running away from this great fight?" Touma's head dropped at the sight of her teasing smile. There was no chance of him getting away. He knew his misfortune was going to get him in trouble now.

An explosion nearest to them thankfully knocked him out of his funk in time. The fight between Mikoto and Samuel had gotten more intense since the last major attack, and Touma, Index and Seria had to move away a few times to avoid the occasional attacks that missed (mostly Mikoto's). It would not be wrong to assume that both Mikoto and Samuel may have forgotten the original reason for the dual, and they have forgotten or ignore the rule for non-lethal force.

Currently they were roughly 1km away from the bridge, a little too close for Touma's comfort, despite their best efforts to contain the devastation. It would seem that Mikoto's attempt to take him out with one shot had awoken some hidden part of Samuel that enjoyed a good fight, as he was getting more 'hands-on' as compared to earlier. He was still using the iron poles, but this time decided to go in with what Touma guessed to be a mix of martial arts and street fighting. Every time he got near Mikoto, Samuel would use CQC in combination with his diamond armor to try and disarm her of her electricity. Occasionally he looked less of fighting and more like doing a complicated dance.

As it stood, it seemed that Samuel was still holding back on Mikoto despite getting more physical in his attack style. Whenever he got close, Samuel often used his palms rather than his fists to hit Mikoto; when he used his legs, he would sweep her off before grabbing her arms and pinning her on the ground. But since he was holding back, Mikoto was able to fend off his attacks or escape his pinning moves, then launch one of her own at him.

He could see them both panting heavily, but if he had to guess, Samuel was actually recovering faster than Mikoto. Touma knew from experience that most espers relied on their abilities too much, so when someone (like yours truly and Samuel) was able to get through their attacks, they tend to panic and somewhat self-destruct either by their powers or their actions. Samuel definitely had that experience of handling espers barehanded; coupled with his armor and healing factor, he was effectively a one-man army. Touma could only imagine the chaos that would unfold if Samuel decided to let loose his full strength, remembering the sorry state of Metallica.

Hearing an exasperated growl at his side, he turned to see a very annoyed Index fidgeting as she stared at the fight. Touma realized she was probably not used to this type of situations and so tried to defuse the ticking time bomb next to him. "Erm, Index, perhaps you would like to leave?"

To his surprise, Index shook her head, still watching the fight unfolding before her. "No, I want to continue watching, Touma." Her eyes narrowed as Samuel called up a brick wall before ducking to the side to avoid a lightning strike. "_I need to see what that guy's ability is._"

Touma arched an eyebrow at the statement she gave. Okay, that was definitely a first for him. Index would have complained like an hour ago and probably get Touma to leave with her by chomping on his head. Index would never get this interested in a fight between espers unless…

Touma frowned at the last part she said '_I need to see what that guy's ability is_'. Did that mean Samuel was using magic? But that was impossible; for one thing, magicians cannot be registered on the scans. Secondly, any esper using magic would have dire consequence, something Tsuchikamdo was particularly familiar with, and also what had happened with Elis, the magician involved with the experiment to create a hybrid.

Still, he did know that there was evidence of hybrids out there, and from what he recalled about Kuroyoru Umidori during the Hawaiian incident, she actually used magic by using her cybernetic implants to bear the burden of casting the spell, thus leaving her unharmed.

That said, Samuel did not seem to have any of the associated problems if he was using magic. Maybe what Index meant was the manner Samuel was using his ability was similar to some magic style she was familiar with. Yeah, that had to be the case.

_Because there was absolutely no way Samuel could be a magician, right?_

* * *

Mikoto took a few seconds to catch her breath as they broke their recent exchange of attacks. Honestly, she had never had a fight that lasted this long; her fights with Touma always ended up with him stopping her attacks before having her chase after him for abandoning the fights; her fights with her fellow Level 5s were more understandable, particularly Mugino Shizuri, whose ability was similar in principles, and Sogiita Gunha, who was basically a walking enigma. Accelerator did not count, that reflection ability was totally cheating.

But Samuel was a totally different case entirely. Mikoto fully admitted to the fact that Samuel did not bother using full strength just yet. He was just following her level as they fought, never going above the threshold to dominate, or go below in a manner of insulting her. He acknowledged her strength, so he used the appropriate amount of strength to match her. For any other person, she may have been outraged by the supposed display of holding back. But for Samuel, it was hard to feel that way; he did not brag about his strength like some of the espers out there, nor did he downplay his skills on dumb luck like Touma.

"So then, Misaka" A voice prompted her to lift her head to see Samuel casually walking towards her. He was covered in soot and dirt from their exchange of attacks, and had various cuts on his body from the iron sand that managed to bypass his defenses. "Shall we continue our little waltz?" He was panting a little himself, but a lot less than her, a sign of proof that he had trained his body a lot more than her. Mikoto wasn't too surprised by that; from what she had seen, Samuel seemed to have as much experience in dealing with street fights as Touma, and he definitely had the prowess to prove it. Even now, she could see the cuts closing up to form new skin, a result of his healing factor.

Taking a deep breath, Mikoto sent electricity down to the ground again, gathering up the iron sand, but this time holding one end and letting the rest flail around like a whip. Wasting no time, she swung the iron whip right at him, cutting down the many iron poles that were in the way. Samuel did not waste any time in hesitation himself; he jumped forward while activating his armor ability on his arms, and took a swing at the iron sand. Like the earlier scuffles, he easily broke through it, with the audible sounds of the sand grinding against the diamond armour. However, Mikoto decided to do something different by dispersing the iron sand to give the illusion that Samuel had weakened the whip, before using the electricity to magnetize the sand and made it envelop Samuel's body.

The brief look of surprise on Samuel's face before he got enveloped by the iron sand was enough for Mikoto as she leapt further away before discharging a large helping of electricity at the cocoon of iron sand, thus shocking Samuel from within. She had to give out harder attacks in order to deal with him.

For a moment, the cloud of sand was still, its magnetism having gotten stronger from the electrical attack. Then with a yell, the cloud exploded and fell to the ground, leaving behind Samuel fully covered in his diamond armor once again. He apparently crouched to minimize the exposure of the iron sand and the damage from the electrical attack. He lifted his head to reveal his untouched face. It was somewhat unnerving to see those eyes of different colors under the glow emitted by the unearthly green hair that came with his ability. If she were to meet him at night, Mikoto might have fired off lightning bolts just to get away from those eyes.

"I will be honest with you; this has to be the longest fight I had since I entered Academy City." Samuel smiled at Mikoto as he stood up slowly to face her. He meant it in a good way, not like he was bragging about it; when he came into Academy City a few years back, most of the people who picked on him tend to go down within 5 minutes. He only had trouble with the occasional Level 4 espers who could dominate him, but that would take him at least 10 minutes to take them out. As he built up his esper abilities and his physical strength over the years, fewer people were able to last even a minute. Before long, he ended up beating everyone with his physical strength alone, and soon found himself wondering if there was anyone able to take him on. Looks like he finally found one to use his esper strength to the fullest.

Mikoto could only smile in response to his words. Honestly, this guy was really hard to hate or to get insulted by. He was not an idiot like Touma or Gunha; he was not some psychopathic like Accelerator or Shizuri, and most certainly he was not manipulative like Shokohou. Mikoto shook her head gently in order to clear her head and think of her next move.

This much she learnt from their exchange and their earlier conversations. Samuel had the ability to manipulate any matter around him, hence the stone slab and the pillars, and the ability to convert matter around him, evidence of his armor ability and the iron poles he called up. Based on what Metallica kept mumbling when they handed him over to Judgement, and what she had seen so far, she figured the one aspect of his amour relied on utilising the carbon that resided in his body. And based on the injuries he had from the few times he used it, there was a limit to how much he could use in his body. To compensate, he had the physical strength to restrain her, and together with the other ability, he was pretty much shutting her out.

"Right, what's the next dance move you have considered?" Samuel asked while maintaining his stance of being open to attacks. _'If there was one odd thing about him, it had to be his choice of words using dancing as the theme'_ Mikoto thought privately as she made a decision. There was one way she could think of trying, but that would seriously break the rule of the fight. Then again, considering how both sides had forgotten about using lethal force, guess they were passed that.

_Guess it was time to really pull out the stops._

Slowly and deliberately, Mikoto took a coin out of her pocket much to Samuel's puzzlement. 'She's going to hit me with a coin?' Samuel could not help but arched an eyebrow at the idea. His thoughts got answered when Touma, who saw the action from the spot he was at, started going pale and yelled out at Mikoto. _"Wait a second, are you nuts?! Are you seriously going to use that on him?!"_

'Use what on me?' Samuel alternated looking at Mikoto and Touma, who was looking seriously panicked-stricken to the point Samuel thought he was going to have a stroke. A sudden clap of lightning drew his attention back to Mikoto, who was currently emitting a lot of lightning around her. There was a definite difference from before; It was literally making his hair tingle and stand on end, what with all the static being generated.

**_'This is bad!'_** Samuel could tell that was some serious amount of power building up there. And the part that was worrying him was the idea that even his diamond armor might not be able to handle a direct attack from whatever Mikoto was planning to use.

_"Neh, senpai?"_ Mikoto smiled as she watched Samuel take a bracing stance. It would seem even Samuel could tell Mikoto was finally going to give it all she got at him, and was cautiously watching to see what it was. _"Tell me, do you know what a railgun is?"_ Her smile went wider at the way Samuel's eyes went really wide. Looks like he did know what it was, and more importantly, who she really was.

"Well then." Mikoto said as she flicked the coin high up in the air. Some of the lightning bolts started gathering at the coin as it continued its ascent, while the rest got concentrated at Mikoto's hand. Samuel felt time slowed down as he watched the coin came to a slow stop, hung in mid-air, before beginning to drop back down.

Samuel knew what a railgun was, and though her words gave him an idea of who he was facing, he did not have time to think about it. Currently he was thinking of how to survive the attack. There was no way he would risk pitting himself against that attack. Even with his diamond armor, he was not taking that chance!

There was no choice then; he had to use one of his more unknown abilities. He quickly raised his left arm in front of him, while reinforcing his arm and legs, leaving his right arm and head exposed. In an odd way, this reminded him of the first time he displayed this ability, and the person who helped him control it. He could almost hear that person's voice as he closed his eyes and focused his concentration into the defensive ability he had.

_'Remember this, Samuel'_

He would need a shield to handle that type of strain coming to his arm.

_'If in the event your abilities are outmatched by your opponent…'_

He would need a defense to protect him from the potential fallout.

_'And you feel you are unable to handle that opponent…'_

He would have to use that particular defense with the moniker given by someone close to him.

_'Then try imagining the one thing that can stop him.'_

**"HERE WE GO, SENPAI!"** Mikoto shouted as the coin landed just above her thumb. For a quiet moment, she flicked her thumb outward, and then with a thunderous roar, the coin shot forward in a flash, leaving behind a streak of light as it flew towards Samuel. In an unusual state of calm, Samuel took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

That defense name, hence his other ability, was called…

**"AEGIS!"**

**"BOOOOM!"**

* * *

Kuroko was just a few blocks away when she saw the tell-tale signs of a railgun about to be fired. She immediately sped up her pace, once again cursing the fact she could not go further and faster at her current level. She did not know why she was fighting, but Kuroko knew that the opponent had to be a particularly strong esper if Mikoto needed to use her signature move against him.

Just as she got to the rooftop two blocks away from the location, Kuroko saw a streak of light across the riverbank, and then heard the deafening sound of the railgun shot. A few seconds later, she got blown off her feet from the rooftop and sent back to the previous rooftop. Kuroko had to grab a standing lightning rod and hang on for dear life as the shockwave continued to spread everywhere.

It took a while for the shockwave to disperse before Kuroko dared to remove herself from the pole and fall on her butt. She took a few deep breaths to try and slow down her heart rate, the adrenaline in her body not helping her at all, before she turned her head towards the scene of the fight.

_What the hell was going on over there?_

* * *

The explosion that came out of the attack could only be described as 'epic'. The flames that spewed completely engulfed Samuel and spread across the river side, scorching the ground and the remaining greenery near them. The shockwave generated was even stronger than the last major attack; it blew Touma and the girls off their feet and tumbling to the ground a few feet away. It reverberated across the streets and caused some of the nearby vehicles to set off the car alarms. The light generated was so blinding, even with their eyes closed, the others felt it was invading their sense of sight completely and painfully.

Touma shook his head a few times as he tried to get upon his feet. The sound alone wrecked his hearing to the point he had to cover his ears and focused on the silence in order to stop the ringing and tried to get back his bearings. The huge flash of light resulting from the explosion had also blinded him to the point he kept seeing spots flashing before him. Beside him, he could just about make out Seria and Index trying to do the same. He slowly crawled his way towards them, taking his time in order to halt the feeling of vomiting. Last thing he needed was to haul on them and get a bite from Index.

"Index, Senpai, are you two okay?" Touma managed to get that out before he took a deep breath to stop the gaging feeling in his throat. "Yeah, think I will live." Seria managed to give a strained smile as she sat up slowly and taking deep breaths. "Although I think I'm going to need to take a sick leave from school." She groaned as she held her head while leaning against a lamp post nearby.

"Index, how about you?" Touma turned to her, feeling a lot better now to move about faster. His heart nearly stopped at a shaking Index clutching her head while compressing her body into a fetal position. It seemed that the aftershocks were too much for her to handle, as her eyes were shut tight and she was grimacing painfully.

"Index, hang in there!" Having recovered enough, Touma scrambled to Index's side and gently cradled her head. She flinched slightly, but after realizing it was Touma, she relaxed enough to let him check for any injuries. It did not seem she gotten any major injuries, just a scrape on her left side and possibly a slight concussion from the explosion. Touma heaved a sigh of relief when he saw there were no major injuries on her, before turning his head towards the battlefield.

The earlier attack gave the impression of a nuclear bomb detonation that was localized in one spot; this devastation left by the railgun could only be described as a sight resembling a scene from 'Terminator 2': a charred-black ground, with bits of grass catching fire; the stretch of river next to them totally evaporated and was now being refilled by the downstream current; and finally, the cloud of smoke where Samuel was struck by the railgun. Just a few away was Mikoto, who was remarkably standing upright despite the shockwave induced.

"Oui! Could you at least hold back your power a little, Misaka?!" Touma shouted at Mikoto, wincing at the sound of his own voice seemingly drilling its way into his brain. Mikoto started and slowly turned around, revealing a look that was half tired and half sheepish. "Yeah, about that…" Mikoto paused before continuing. "I think I may have gone a little overboard with that attack."

'What?' Touma took a while to register before his eyes went wider. "Wait, _how much power_ did you put into that attack?!" Touma gave a panicked look towards the spot where Samuel was earlier. There was still no sign of movement, and Touma was starting to wonder if he had to call an ambulance sooner or later.

Mikoto herself was wondering that, as she gave a rather uneasy look. She got caught up in the moment and just fired off a round that a little stronger than she gave to Touma. If Samuel did not get out of it untouched, she was so going to regret it big time. "Hey can you guys call the hospital or something?" Mikoto called out to Touma and the others. Seria apparently thought the same as she took out her phone, having recovered enough to move about. "Guess I better call for an ambulance now. It would seem that continuing this fight would not benefit anyone, especially with the racket we made. So this fight will be…"

_"Ow, Ow, Ow."_ For a moment, everyone stopped breathing at the sound of those words. Slowly, Mikoto turned her head towards the cloud of smoke, barely believing what she was hearing. True, she did not hold back as much as she hoped, but this was plain ridiculous! There was absolutely no way for him to survive that, let alone say anything…

Her heart nearly gave out at the sight that was appearing out of the smoke. At first there were bits of something shiny that peeked through the smoke. As more of the smoke settled down, she could see what looked like a golden transparent hexagon floating in the air. A gentle breeze blew behind her, catching the smoke and bringing it away from the crash site, revealing a sight that made Mikoto go weak at the knees.

In front of her was something so unusual and oddly mind bending, that if Mikoto had to give a name considering the situation, she had to call it a 'beehive barrier'. At the spot where Samuel was standing earlier, stood an unusual sphere that was at least 2 feet taller than her. The structure seemed to be made of small gold hexagons that were giving out such an unearthly glow, it felt like looking at the sun directly but not getting blinded. The mind bending part came from the manner which the hexagons were slowly turning around in alternating rows; it seemed organic, yet inorganic, contradicting yet accepting, and other associated opposites that Mikoto could only think of faintly.

In front of it were 3 additional hexagons stacked together. They definitely bore the full brunt of Mikoto's attack, as the foremost hexagon was almost destroyed, with the other 2 showing deep cracks. Even as Mikoto stared at the unusual sight, the stacked hexagons started breaking down, their pieces scattering in the breeze before they disappear. In response, a loud crackling sound permeated the air as the golden sphere itself started to have cracks appearing all over it.

With a shattering sound, the barrier collapsed from the top, leaving in its wake a very exhausted Samuel holding his left arm up. It seemed that even the barrier was barely able to resist her attack; based on the drag marks on the ground, he got pushed back a feet from his original position. If he did not activate his armor ability, he would probably have gotten his limbs blown off.

As the last pieces of the barrier disappeared, Samuel dropped his arm and rested both his palms on his knees to steady himself, before calling out in a raspy voice. "Damn, Misaka" Samuel panted while grinning at the expressions that adorned everyone's faces. "You really wanted to take me out permanently, huh?"

* * *

Part 2  


Kuroko was shocked at the sight that was in front of her.

It was one thing that some of the Level 5s could take her on, that much she had to admit. It was another thing for that ape to stop her attacks, which she ruthlessly crushed the thought mentally. But for someone else to have bared the full brunt of Mikoto's railgun without a scratch, now that was something she could not ignore. As far as Kuroko could remember, none of the barrier type espers were able to withstand that attack even when Mikoto was only using a sixth of her full strength. Their barriers would break under the strain by the first hit, leaving them open for electrocution from the side effects.

Kuroko looked at the topless man as he straightened up and flexed his arms to loosen the joints. She had tried to use the scanner she had to get a reading on him, but the battery got fried from the electromagnetic pulse generated from the railgun. So she had to settle on guessing the person's level based on what she had seen. This person would have to be a Level 4 to at least stand a chance to withstand Mikoto's attack. Then again, that ape was supposedly a Level 0 who somehow or another has the ability to cancel out other powers. Anyhow it still begged the question:

_Who the **hell** was this person who could take on her Onee-Sama so easily?_

* * *

"Okay, seriously Misaka" Samuel paused to crack his neck a little. "Have you by chance forgotten the reason we are having this duel? The last thing I need is to arrive for my job in a wheelchair." After moving his shoulders and legs to test if he still had motion, he proceeded to dust himself of all the debris and soot that had settled. Remarkably, his pants survived the entire ordeal without any damage, only a fray at the left knee to indicate the iron sand attack from his earlier scuffle. "So, is that all?" Samuel smiled at the gaping Mikoto while shrugging his arms, like it was a sparring fight for him.

Mikoto did not reply back; in fact she was still having such a hard time processing what just happened in front of her, all she could do was gape at him with her arms hanging at the sides. She pretty much threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, and even if the railgun was not at full strength, it was at a higher level than the one she used on Touma. And Samuel just took it like it was nothing! _Seriously, what was with the guy?!_

Ignoring Mikoto's laughable state, Samuel turned to Touma's direction. "Hey, you guys okay?" Touma could only reply by nodding his head gently. He too was having a hard time processing the situation in front of him. He figured Samuel had the physical strength for a street brawl, he knew he had the power to take on a few espers at a time, but this was completely ridiculous. _Seriously, was this guy related to the super powered people like Aqua or Fiamma?! That had to be the reason for him to just take everything from Mikoto and just stand around joking?!_

"Earth to Touma, you hear me?!" Samuel's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "I said what's wrong with her?" Samuel pointed to Index, who was still curled up in a fetal position. Though she had stopped shaking, it seemed the aftershocks were being felt in a worrying manner; she was mumbling something very fast with her eyes closed, and the intensity she was doing it was somewhat nerve-wrecking.

"Index, you okay?" Touma shook her gently, getting even more worried as she showed no sign of responding to his words. _"Index!"_ This time, Index reacted to his words and stronger shaking, stopping her mumblings. Slowly she opened her eyes, their eyeballs seeming going out of focus as she tried to set her sights on anything she could see. Only when she placed her eyes on Touma, then her eyeballs stopped twitching and the glazed look was gone. "Touma, what happened?" Index asked softly as she took a deep breath. Touma himself took a deep breath and let it out slowly to ease his nerves. "Yup, she's fine now." Touma called out to Samuel who nodded to show his acknowledgement.

Stretching his arms again to let out the tension in his body, Samuel turned to Mikoto with a tired smile. "So, you are the famous Misaka Mikoto, aka the Railgun, Tokiwadai's Ace and lastly, the Electro Princess. I will say this: you are definitely the first Level 5 I fought at all. Truly an inspiring fight" He added with a small bow and a hand at the chest, before lifting that hand towards Mikoto, giving the impression of him bowing and asking Mikoto for a dance at a ball. "So, shall we close the curtains for this performance? It would seem that we may have ended up attracting some unwanted company." Samuel turned his head towards the nearest building as he said that. Mikoto took a while to understand his words; the sounds of sirens were faint, but evidently were getting closer. It seemed their little battle had attracted the attention of Judgement and possibly Anti Skill. It would be wise to get away before she had to do some explaining.

With that in mind, the next thing she said was one that most people would probably not say: "Okay then, let's finish this fight now." That got Samuel's attention as he broke his gaze at the building and directed an amused expression at her. Touma himself stared at Mikoto for the statement she just made; only Seria was smiling her trademark smirk, indicating her interest and amusement in the both of them.

"You sure about this, Misaka?" There was a hint of jest, yet also the hint of caution, in the words Samuel asked. "You really don't need to continue, after all this is merely to assess my aptitude for my job. I think" Samuel paused to gaze at Seria. "That the requirements had been met. So perhaps we do this another time…"

**"It is fine! I want to continue!"** Mikoto nodded quickly, disregarding how it might look to others; it had been a long time since anyone was able to make her work to defeat them in a good way, much of her fights were disappointing or in life threatening situations. Samuel however was able to keep up with her, and that got her competitive streak inside her singing in her body. A part of her wanted to see how this individual would be able to handle a Level 5 esper, another part just wanted to defeat this guy and get stronger.

Samuel stared at her for a second, before he bowed his head and his shoulders started shaking gently. For a moment, everyone thought he was getting angry at the absurdity of Mikoto's words; it was the opposite. Samuel threw back his head and let loose a loud laugh that reverberated around the area. It was not a laugh which Mikoto and Touma were accustomed to hearing, since the only times they have ever heard a laugh this loud were from the people who were either trying to take over the world, crush their opponents or the type who get a kick from hurting others. This was a laugh born from genuine amusement that someone actually wanted to have a good honest fight despite the complications coming out of it.

After a while, Samuel managed to restrain himself and smiled at Mikoto. "Honestly, you are an unusual one. But then again, from what I heard about Level 5s," Samuel quirked an eyebrow at this point, "You guys have a somewhat odd sense of doing things." Closing his eyes, he took a moment to control himself before asking one last time. "Misaka, I know that you are strong, and that's nothing wrong with that. But" At this point, he opened his eyes to show a light unlike earlier; before it was a glint of joy at the prospect of a good fight, now got replaced with a light of steel. "Are you certain you wish to continue? Because now that I know who you really are, I cannot afford to hold back any punches against you." His tone changed when he added that part, with a hint of warning.

Mikoto got a shiver down her spine. Yes, this was the feeling from earlier, when she and Touma were dealing with bank robbers and left Samuel with Metallica. She wasn't sure back then, but it seemed that Samuel was finally taking the fight seriously, and decided he was about to pull out all the stops on his end. It really made her curious, just how much he had held back against her before. Mikoto steeled her face as she nodded once to acknowledge her decision.

"Very well then. If you don't mind, I would have to borrow a bit of your iron sand." Samuel directed his arms to the ground, his hands seemingly grasping something.

**_"Try to hang on, this one's for the grand ending of the show."_**

* * *

Kuroko took a while to catch her breath as she lied under the shadow of exhaust pipe, a few feet away from the curb she was looking over a while ago. That was a little too close for comfort considering the situation, but she had to stick to make sure nothing happened to Mikoto.

When she was monitoring the interaction between the man and Mikoto, the guy suddenly turned his head towards the building she was standing on. Now that action alone would not send her hiding like a mouse, heck she would probably announce herself to everyone and not bow down to some ape or any lowly creature known as "man".

However, it was the feeling she got from that person when he looked at her direction. It was not so much of _'looking at her direction'_; it was more _'looking **right at** her'_ that got her scrambling for cover. She hated to admit it, but somehow the intensity could be felt from this far, like he was right in front of her. Despite the alleviation, she felt she was getting stared down by her own natural predator, one that could devour her in an instant but was playing around with her. It was a fear so intense her body reacted on instinct and her power activated to get her away from him. It was only the conscious pull from the thought of Mikoto facing this individual that Kuroko was able to stop herself and settled behind the exhaust pipe.

She touched her forehead, surprised that she was sweating despite the weather being cooling. She was not sure why, but that guy was practically ringing all the alarms in her head. That guy was dangerous, and her Onee-Sama was facing that person.

**_She had to do something about him, that much was clear._**

* * *

Samuel relaxed his body as he concentrated on the task at hand. The earlier attacks and explosions had drained a lot of his energy, so he would need to reserve whatever he had left for the next few moves.

Aegis was out of the question; one of the major issues with his defensive ability was the ridiculous consumption of his strength. Typical barrier espers only feel the strain in their head, since they were focusing on blocking the attacks with their minds. In exchange for a nigh-invulnerable defence, his ability trades the strain on his mind for the drain effect on his physical body. On a good day, he may be able to use three times, four if he were to push himself. But that earlier railgun almost drained him completely, so there was no chance of using that anymore.

His favoured diamond ability was useful, but it depended on the amount of carbon in his body. Any damage that could get pass the diamond armor equaled the amount of carbon needed to cover the exposed spot. For the human body, losing small amounts was fine, provided it does not lose it too much; but losing large amounts at any given time was seriously bad for it. Even now, he was definitely feeling a little out of touch from the lack of carbon in his body, so he needed to save on it for a last ditch effort.

Thankfully, his most used ability was not draining at all, and with the promise of giving a grand finale, he decided to use one type of attack he did not get many chances to do. Mikoto was strong, so he decided to use an altered version of this attack to show his respect.

On the ground, the iron sand that was abandoned after Mikoto's attacks started to rise slowly, spiraling towards his hands that were emitting a bright light at its palms. As the iron sand hit the light, the process started speeding up, swirling around his hands as it started to form a rough shape. Samuel focused the image in his head as the shape started glowing. He could get it slap-dashed and done with, but he wanted it to be perfect for this fight.

_Shape, Forge, Fold, Tempered._

_Bring this weapon into existence and grant it purpose._

With that, the rough shapes in his hands flashed with a sudden burst of light, making Touma and the others to cover their eyes with their hands to protect themselves from the glare. It lasted for a few seconds, after which the light receded enough for them to open their eyes and see a rather unusual sight.

Samuel was still standing with his legs apart and his arms to his sides, but his hands were no longer empty. He had created two boomerangs from the iron sand, both of which were a lot bigger and longer than the average boomerang. Perhaps the weirdest part was the design: the one in his right hand was jet black, with a hexagonal red diamond shining in the light. The left was pure white, with a circular yellow gem.

_'Boomerangs?'_ Mikoto thought as she braced herself for whatever attack Samuel got. _'What is he planning to do with them?'_ She was not sure why, but seeing the twin boomerangs were making her ability go a little out of sync, with static started to appear on her body.

"You noticed?" Mikoto started as Samuel gave a grin at her. "Good, then it was not a waste of time then." Samuel raised the boomerangs above his head, gripping them tightly as he looked at her. "Here we go then, Misaka." With a yell, he threw the boomerangs straight at her.

_"What, he just threw them?!"_ Misaka shouted as she called up the iron sand at her side. It made no sense if he was going to throw them away after making them. Maybe he was trying to distract her with them, and then come up close for an attack? She thrusted her arm at them, sending the iron sand forward to create a protective wall in front of her. _'Guess he was getting desperate.'_ Mikoto thought as the boomerangs disappeared from her sight. _'Oh well, they will get destroyed, so I better watch out for …'_

Her thoughts got interrupted as the boomerangs burst through the iron sand wall and continued their trajectory right at her. "What?! Son of a?!" Mikoto swore as she barely dodged them in time, with the white one cutting a piece of her sweater at the side. "Damn, that was way too close!" Mikoto panted as she turned to find Samuel. With the boomerangs gone, he should be defenseless, so he would come up close…

_"Right over **HERE!**"_ Mikoto twisted her body in time to see Samuel throwing a second pair of the boomerangs at her. In her haste, she felled backwards on the ground, hitting her head in the process. But that fall saved her as the boomerangs whizzed above her. Scrambling to the side, she gathered electricity in her hand as she tried to find Samuel again. If she could just get one hit on him…

"Misaka, behind you!" Touma's yell caused her to lose focus for a short while before ducking for cover, just as the first pair buzzed behind her and fly past her. She stumbled for a second before lifting her head up to find the two pairs of boomerang circulating around her in the air. If anything, she thought they were spinning even faster as time goes by.

"INCOMING!" Another yell made her look wildly at all sides, only to find another pair of boomerangs flying straight at her. She cursed as she fell down in the most undignified manner in her attempt to escape, but she could think of that later; now she was very grateful as the boomerangs just barely flew past her, taking the ends of her hair when she fell down.

Snarling, Mikoto stood up and let loose large amounts of electricity at all sides, prompting Touma and the rest to get to a safer distance quickly. She lashed out at the boomerangs, hoping that she could strike them down. The answer to her idea came soon after.

_Striking them, yes; taking them out of the game, a definite **no**._ If anything, the large volts of electricity seemed to have rejuvenated them, making them spin even faster and harder, and also it seemed to have made them attracted to her like some magnet, so now she was dodging all over the place, with the boomerangs cutting her vest a little every now and then.

Mikoto was panting even heavier than earlier; it seemed that all her earlier attacks took a lot more out of her than she thought, and it did not help with those boomerangs flying by and taking a swing at her. _And where the hell was Samuel?!_

"Looking for me by any chance?" Mikoto turned to find Samuel skidding to a stop behind her a few feet away, before turning and dash straight at her. Thrusting his arms behind him, he gathered the iron sand that was with him to form two combat sticks of the same differing colors as the boomerangs.

At this point Mikoto realized with a jolt that this was perhaps what he wanted: using some unusual material for those boomerangs, he made them circle around her, cutting off all her paths and leaving only the front open for him to duke it out with her. Even now all the boomerangs that were hovering on top of her suddenly dipped down and spun straight for her like buzz saws. The only way for her to get out of it was to attack head-on with the possibility of getting slashed by the boomerangs or taken out by Samuel with his combat sticks.

With the current situation as it was, all Mikoto could do was to gather the iron sand once more to create a small blade, and said with a defiant smile:

_"Bring it on, Sammy boy!"_

* * *

Kuroko was mentally beating herself as she took the needles strapped to her thighs and focused on the calculations before sending them to their intended target. She was too engrossed at how the man seemingly dominated the battle that it was only on the third stumble that Kuroko realized that Mikoto was seriously at a disadvantage. All thoughts of that man's gaze disappeared at the cornered look on Mikoto's face.

_She must help her Onee-sama out of that situation! She would not let that… **That mongrel** win over her at all!_ She grasped the needles tightly between her fingers as she finished her calculations in time to see the man dash forward with two sticks in his hand.

_**She was going to make sure that man went down in pain.**_

* * *

Now, Samuel was not one to brag, but he had fought espers and Skill Outs enough times to get a general feel of the situation, and develop sort of a sixth sense to warn him of danger in any situation. That sixth sense had been a great help in all his fights, especially when there were people who tried to ambush him time after time.

So when that sixth sense was practically screaming at him to get away fast, his body reacted instinctively. The left arm that was stretching out to intercept Mikoto's iron sword dipped sharply, plunging the stick into ground with such velocity that his body arched sharply. Letting the momentum take over, he kicked off the ground so that he hung upside down with the stick supporting him, before using the energy to swing himself over Mikoto.

Just in time apparently; as Mikoto staggered in her surprise at Samuel supposedly abandoning his attack, a small flash of light was all Samuel saw before 3 needles hit the ground with soft thuds. Even as he did a somersault to land softly, Samuel did not let the tension go; his sixth sense was still tingling, meaning the attack was not over yet. As soon as he hit the ground, he quickly swerved to the sides, again just barely escaping another round of needles.

Samuel gave a frown as he continued dodging the needles that were aimed for him. He was not too sure of whom or why that person was doing this now, but he got a general idea of where, based on the feeling he got earlier. And that would be…

**"OVER THERE!"** He twisted his body a full 360, using the momentum to throw the combat stick in his right hand straight at the building he was gazing at a few minutes ago. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of someone jumping in the air, and then vanishing just as the stick was about to reach that figure. It continued its trajectory and with a loud thud that could be heard from that distance, embedded itself in the side of the exhaust pipe.

For a second, Samuel wondered what happened, before his body instinctively moved to the side, just as the figure appeared above the spot he was before, a leg straightened out to deliver a supposed drop kick on the head. With nothing to stop the trajectory, her foot slammed on the ground, making her yelp in pain as Samuel skidded to a halt near the river side, with his hands open to prepare a new weapon.

"Kuroko?!" A shout from Mikoto made Samuel pause for a moment, as the figure turned her head towards Mikoto. "ONEE-SAMA!" With that and a big leap, the figure dived for Mikoto, who was too late to move away due to her exhaustion, thus leaving her open to a hugging tackle to the ground.

_"Huh?"_ Samuel could not help but stare at the scene where the girl was practically rubbing her body against Mikoto while making somewhat disturbing noises and gestures. It took a while for his head to ignore the troubling sight so that he could process what had happened. Samuel recognized her as the twin-tailed Judgement member who had come earlier for the clean-up of the bank robbery, and based on her clothing, she was a fellow classmate of Mikoto. He figured she must have been worried and so went after them, only to find the two of them duking it out.

"Kuroko, I said stop that!" A sudden flash of electricity dragged Samuel out of his thoughts in time to see the girl getting electrocuted by Mikoto's attack. But rather than get knocked out, Kuroko was making even more disturbing noises as she clutched her body tightly._ "Ah, Onee-sama's whip of love! Please give me more!"_ Kuroko squealed as she grabbed hold of Mikoto once again and rubbed her face in Mikoto's chest. Mikoto desperately tried to remove her iron clutch from her while twisting her head back and forth, her face completely flushed from embarrassment, until her eyes lied on Samuel and Touma, who had come down with the other two from the corner they were taking cover, standing side by side staring at her. Her face went a deeper shade of red at their faces.

"Erm, perhaps you would like me to give you two some privacy?" Samuel gave a sheepish expression while glancing at the side. It wold appear he was getting a really wrong impression of them, as he seemed to be thinking out loud a thought he had. "Damn, and I thought that Saji was just being ridiculous about his comics on girl schools, but I guess maybe he was not too far off about them being lesbians."

"No kidding." Touma also turned his head the other way while scratching his nose. "If Aogami were to see this, he would be in bloody heaven and be ecstatic about them being masochists." Both of their expressions and their words were the last straws that broke the back of Mikoto's restraint.

"Wait a second, you two! There is nothing going on between me and her! Senpai, this is my kouhoi, not my lover! And you!" Mikoto turned to Touma. "Don't you even think about what that blue haired moron said?! This girl is just plain messed up!" Mikoto tried explaining that to the both of them; not a very successful attempt, considering how the twin-tailed girl seemed to be panting at the implication that came from the misunderstanding and was actively trying to put her hands into Mikoto's clothes.

"Err…" Samuel hesitated before sighing. Guess the fight was over for the both of them. Lifting his head, he could still see the boomerangs spinning above them, patiently waiting for their turn. Since he had abandoned his attack, they stopped their assault and returned to their original spot to avoid hurting anyone else. Sighing again, he lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers. With that, the boomerangs stopped spinning and for a moment stuck in the air, before glowing and disappearing in the wind. There was no point maintaining them if their fight had been interrupted.

Samuel felt a gaze on him and turned to see Touma looking at him with a strange look. It had the expression of one who was reminded of something, but could not place it properly without other factors to knock it in place.

"Something the matter, Touma?" He raised his eyebrow at Touma who blinked at his question, before shaking his head. "Ah, no problem, Samuel-san." Touma shook his head with a smile, but Samuel could tell that smile was strained. It looked like he was bothered by something and that finger snap had some relation to it. Oh well, he would ask him about it later. Right now…

Samuel turned to find the twin-tailed girl glaring at him. It seemed his finger snapping did not get Touma's attention alone; it seemed to have broken the lustful assault on Mikoto, much to her apparent relief as Kuroko directed her attention at him.

"You there, who are you to pick a fight with my Onee-sama?!" For some reason, her words and that expression had Samuel wondering if dismissing his boomerangs was such a good idea. Before he could reply, Mikoto quickly explained, notably sounding a little panicked. "Ah, Kuroko, don't misunderstand. DanQuein senpai and I are just having a duel to test his strength. Kumokawa-san." She turned to Seria who was standing a little behind Touma. "Wanted to see his strength for a job interview, so she got us to fight it out to see his level."

"Hmm…" Kuroko frowned at the senior as she contemplated on the information, before turning back to Samuel. "Still, I would ask you to come with me to the station for questioning."

"What?" Samuel could only look at her in puzzlement, while the others, notably Mikoto and Touma, had expressions to show their concern for the situation. There was an odd glint in her eyes that got Samuel's sixth sense tingling again, and he did not like the feeling. So he tried to defuse the situation. "Wait, I think there's a misunderstanding of sorts. She was just…"

His words drawled out as his pupils briefly dilated. Almost automatically, his left arm got covered in the diamond armor in time to avoid 2 needles from penetrating his skin. The sound of metal hitting the armour was audible enough to get the others' attention to him. Before the others could react, another metallic sound came from his upper right arm, where a third needle failed to penetrate a small patch of black diamond.

"Wait a second!" Touma turned to Kuroko, who was clutching the needles in between her fingers as she stared at Samuel. It was pretty obvious from the start that she had no intention of letting him off easily. In fact, this may be what she wanted.

"I see, so you are resisting arrest, huh?" Kuroko gave a smirk as she took one step before teleporting the needles towards Samuel. A few more metallic pings were all that was heard from Samuel's side before he suddenly rolled on the ground to avoid a drop kick from Kuroko.

"Kuroko, STOP!" Mikoto shouted as Kuroko continued her assault on Samuel, alternating between teleporting needles and appearing at the sides to try and disorient him before attempting to grab him and do her usual back flipping. Samuel, for his part, was making that hard for her to do; he seemed to have recovered enough to utilize his diamond armor once again, only employing small amounts to hinder her needles, while constantly moving to avoid her touching him.

"I would think" Samuel growled as he swerved out of the way. "That enough..." He clenched his right fist. "IS…" He opened up his left palm. "ENOUGH!" He slammed his right fist to his left palm sideways. On cue, the earth rumbled energetically, before a pillar of dirt shot out of the ground and directed itself at Kuroko. Having been caught off guard by this sudden attack, she was unable to teleport in time for her leg to get hit by the pillar, sending her flying sideways before hitting the ground.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto went to her side while Touma went to Samuel's side, followed by the other two girls who went with him. It seemed there was no problem with her, as Kuroko immediately leaped to her feet and grabbed her hands.

"You see, Onee-sama! That guy attacked me, so I can go and arrest him right?!" Kuroko turned to face Samuel when Mikoto grabbed her arm tightly. "Kuroko, what the hell is wrong with you?! You were the one who attacked him for no reason; he was trying to say there was a misunderstanding! _What's the matter with you?!_"

"But this… this mongrel dared to attack you with weapons!" Kuroko pointed at Samuel. "That guy dared to hurt your beautiful skin, humiliate you! I should be making him grovel on the ground like the mongrel he is supposed to be!" Her eyes were almost bulging, giving her a somewhat deranged look.

"I said stop it Kuroko! It is not him bullying me, it is just a duel!" Mikoto resisted grabbing her head as she tried to explain to Kuroko. Seriously, she could be such a handful at times, but this time Kuroko really does not want to listen to reason. "If anything, it was my fault to have started using lethal force in our duel. So he was only using the appropriate means of countering me"

Touma was listening to their conversation slightly, but got his attention grabbed by the appearance of 2 bystanders who had apparently arrived to their spot for some time. One of them had dreadlocks and a tanned skin, with sunglasses to cover his eyes, the other had long dyed hair with pale skin. Both were wearing typical street clothes that suggested they were walking around when they were attracted by the duel.

Currently they were a few feet away from them, but the wind carried their voices to Touma's side. "You hear that? That Judgement girl actually wanted to attack that guy for no reason? That's abuse man!" The guy with dreadlocks was pointing at Kuroko while asking his buddy.

"No kidding! And look at the uniform; she is one of those rich girls from Tokiwadai! That ain't fair dude! She's actually trying to pick a fight then blame it on him?!" The other guy replied back as he took out his phone to take a picture. "We better get this to the others and…"

His words got stopped as Touma went to them and put his hand on the phone. The last thing they needed was some bad press and possible rumours about Judgement or Tokiwadai abusing their powers to attack some random guy. He gave a quick glance at Samuel as he tried to explain to the two fellows.

_**'Hope he's doing okay.'**_

* * *

For his part, Samuel was watching the exchange between the Tokiwadai girls with growing rage in him. He was trying to suppress it with his mind, but it was a losing battle for him. He knew it was not her fault or anyone's fault about the situation, but the manner she spoke, the way she gestured at him, the way she tried to justify her actions for attacking him, and the act of glaring down at someone like one looking at a cockroach…

_It was just like back then._

He clutched his head as the first of the few memories to be stirred up from that conversation to surface flashed with a pang of pain. He wanted it to stop! He did not want to remember! He did not want to relieve them again!

_'The memory of a little boy getting kicked and punched by a group of rich kids in an empty lot, their parents actually cheering them on to 'punish the spawn of dirt''_

_'The memory of the older girl getting her hair pulled by an older boy, while two others held back the struggling little boy as they laughed at his attempt.'_

_'The memory of the little boy getting dragged by some police officers, while 2 children were faking their tears in front of their parents, one of them giving an accomplished leer at him.'_

_And finally…_

**_'The memory of the boy weeping as he held the cold body of the girl covered in blood, surrounded by the remains of the people who tormented them.'_**

"DanQuein-kun, are you okay?" Seria asked Samuel with a slight hint of concern as she watched him clutching his head. Having been involved on the Dark Side a little, she was no stranger to power play by authorities who used their power to just make people's life miserable, or the effects they have on the general public, but this was something a little unusual for her to see, and quite frankly, she was feeling a little intimidated at the rage that seemed to be exuding from him.

Index herself was giving a wide berth from Samuel as he tried keeping his emotions in check. She already had some doubts about the abilities that Samuel had shown, but she was not going to voice them out just yet. But she was wondering what was with the twin-tailed girl attacking Samuel. He was clearly not in the wrong at all, and that girl just tried to justify her reasons by blaming him instead. Clearly the people here were messed up in their heads. She turned to see the argument between Mikoto and Kuroko escalating, with neither side letting up.

"And even if that mongrel needed to pass some test to get some bloody job, he should not have to do it with you! Or for that matter, you using your full strength against him!" Kuroko continued her ranting as Mikoto shook her head listening to Kuroko's twisted explanation. She knew that Kuroko could be a little fanatic in her admiration for her, she knew that Kuroko held little to no respect for males, particularly Touma, but this was the first time she had ever seen Kuroko this adamant about attacking Samuel. She was even risking her position of Judgement just to attack him!

"Kuroko, I am going to say this one more time. You are not to attack him for some twisted reasoning in your head. It is not his fault, nor is it anyone's fault. We were just having a duel. That is all." Mikoto growled with a tone of warning to make her point. She was about to say something else to cut Kuroko off when a voice stopped her.

"Misaka, it is fine." Those words brought everyone's attention to Samuel, whose head was lowered to hide the eyes. Seria and Index were clearly stepping away from him to get away from some possible eruption of rage. "It would seem that she would not let up on getting me into trouble, so why don't we get it out of her system now?" Samuel lifted his head to reveal hardened eyes. There was no longer any kindness in his eyes; there was no longer any glitter that suggested the joy of a good fight. There was only cold fury in the eyes that showed no mercy for the Judgement officer.

"DanQuein senpai." Mikoto started talking before she paused. She was getting the chills again from earlier, only this felt even more intense to the point she was practically frozen to the ground by sheer fear. She wasn't anywhere near him, yet she was feeling a chill down her spine as though he was right next to her shoving an ice spike down her spine. She wanted to warn Kuroko, but somehow the feeling was overriding her thoughts.

"Hmph." Kuroko grabbed her hips as she gave a triumphant sneer at Samuel. "So the mongrel has decided to surrender, heh?" Samuel arched any eyebrow at that statement. "Who ever said anything about me surrendering to you when I have done nothing wrong?" He held back a gleeful smile at the sight of Kuroko's expression changing to a scowl, annoyed that the guy was not going to give up so easily. Samuel slowly lifted his arms, much to the alarm of Mikoto and Touma. Though he could not see Seria's expression, he had the sneaking suspicion that Seria may be looking on with a bit of interest.

Not that he cared too much; right now he was going to deal with this girl in front of him.

"Quite honestly, I could care less about you being a teleporter who works for Judgement, or a Tokiwadai girl who is a friend of a Level 5." Samuel continued his speech as he glared at Kuroko "But if you really believe for one bloody second, you can blame me for what was obviously not my fault, and you believe that being empowered gives you some twisted way of dealing out punishment, you got another thing coming at you."

With his hands raised and his palms just a few centimetres from each other, he added one last thing: "You said something rather interesting, "that I would grovel on the ground, like the mongrel I'm supposedly am." Well then, this mongrel has some news for you:" Samuel slammed both palms together, with his eyes looking more like the slits of a snake staring at Kuroko.

_"You will dance yourself to the ground, and prostrate before me."_

* * *

_**=====Author's Notes=====**_

Well, I have finally finished this chapter. That took a lot longer than expected.

Think you guys can tell from one of the attacks that Samuel used and the manner that Kuroko was addressing him, where those reference came from huh?

I will be gone for a short while, because of university examinations, so any new chapters will be a little late.

Spoiler alert for the next chapter: "The Battle is to the Strong"

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and hope I can get the new chapter out soon!


	11. Notice for Story

**Author's Notes:**

In case no one has read the note last chapter, this is a notice that I will be gone for a short while, because of university examinations, so any new chapters will be a little late. T.T

So as compensation I will tell you about the next chapter coming up.

* * *

**Spoiler alert for the next chapter:**

Title: Confrontation

Plot: Basically a Kuroko vs Samuel, there would be ramifications of Kuroko lashing out at a civilian for no justification. Maybe at the ending I would give a bit of a tidbit about Index interaction with Touma regarding Samuel

Theme of the fight: "The Battle is to the Strong" XD

Extra information:

I know what you guys are thinking: **Kuroko abusing her power?** But this is an alternate universe, and I figured why not show how some espers abuse their strength? I mean since we had characters from the law who were bad guys, so why not show an esper with Judgement who abuses their authority? And since Kuroko is the type of girl who is somewhat fanatical towards Mikoto, her actions will be geared towards getting rid of the person who Mikoto was fighting.

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and hope I can get the new chapter out soon!


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